Fear: The Unexpected Exile
by Alyson Metallium
Summary: Chapter 12 uploaded, and it's DARK. End Warning Lina and Gourry are on their way to Saillune to attend an engagement party Amelia's throwing in their honor. However, Amelia has been sent on a dangerous mission. Spoilers for all three seasons.
1. Default Chapter

Quick note: I don't own these characters with the exceptions of the Guardians, and the horses. The situations are also my own, as well. But the original Fruity Four, alas, do not belong to me. Pity. ^_~ 

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Amelia smiled to herself as she rode through the forest that bordered the kingdom of Diolon. Her thoughts were far away and definitely not on the mission that she was now on. The kingdom of Diolon bordered one of Saillune's northern neighbors and allies, and lately they had been making threatening moves towards their more gentle neighbors. Prince Phil had decided that since Amelia had done such a good job with the Kingdom of Xoana, before Lina blew it up that is, she should be the one to head the talks in Diolon.   
Amelia wished that this mission was over. She had been traveling for over a month, and only now had they crossed over into the Diolon Forest. She smiled again as her mind went over the letter that had   
arrived at the palace a month ago. Gourry had finally gotten up the nerve to ask Lina to marry him, and after beating the living daylights out of him for making her wait so long, Lina had accepted. They had written to tell Amelia they would be stopping by Saillune on their way to visit Gourry's family, and Amelia's mind was overflowing with ideas for the engagement party she wanted to throw for them. It had been two years since they had separated after the Dark Star incident, and Amelia wanted to make sure that this party was one they would never forget. Zelgadis might even make it to Saillune in time for the party.   
At the thought of the chimera, Amelia's mood lightened even more. Things had seemed to be going well when they had parted ways and she had given him one of her wrist bracelets. The fact that Zelgadis wrote her at least once a month also helped to keep her hopes up. Even though they were only accounts of where he had been and what he had seen instead of love letters, they helped to keep her from giving up   
completely. Amelia always wrote back, telling him news of the kingdom and things she had seen and done, but she never knew if he received them or not because he never said. The latest letter from him had said that he was in an area very near Saillune, and would be stopping by for a visit as soon as he had a chance.   
"Your Highness," a low male voice said, bringing her out of her thoughts, "This looks like a good place to stop and set up camp."   
Amelia glanced around the clearing that the guardsman had indicated, and nodded her head, satisfied that the area was both well sheltered and easy to defend. Now that they were in what could prove to be   
hostile territory, they would be constantly on their guard, and defendable campsites were a must.   
Amelia sighed as she dismounted from her horse, and smoothed down a few folds of her traveling dress. It was an exact replica of the one she had worn on her trip to Xoana, except that it was a dark blue instead of the light pink her old dress had been. She had only worn this dress at her father's insistence, and she still couldn't figure out why he had been so insistent in the first place.   
Shaking her head, she turned her attention to her horse, and began to untack and groom him, despite the guardsmen's protests.   
"Don't be silly," she said lightly. "All of you have more than enough to do without having to worry about whether or not Safir is properly cared for. It's the least I can do, since you won't let me help set up camp, or come within ten feet of the cooking utensils."   
A few of the guardsmen chuckled at this statement. On their first night out, Amelia had insisted on cooking dinner for everyone. The result of that attempt hadn't been very pleasant, and everyone, Amelia included, had agreed that she was not to go near the cooking supplies.   
While Amelia brushed Safir, she turned her thoughts towards Castle Diolon, and what awaited her there. According to sources, the king of Diolon was old and feeble, and it was his son who was now in charge of running the kingdom. However, instead of ruling in his father's gentle footsteps, Nick Diolon was cold and ruthless, and didn't hesitate to walk over anyone who stood in his way. Amelia wasn't looking forward to the meeting she would have with him. Dealing with people like him always left her feeling as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. The only thing that kept her from turning around and heading back home was the thought of all the injustice a man like him had brought against the people. She didn't dare let the thought that she was afraid of being seen as a failure in her father's eyes slip through the defenses she had built up against thoughts like those years ago.   
A gentle touch on her shoulder caught her attention, and she turned to find one of the younger guardsmen standing at her shoulder, Safir's nightly rations in the bag he held out to her.   
"Thank you, Jake," Amelia smiled, and taking the bag, she fit it carefully over Safir's nose, smiling at the gentle crunching sounds the horse made as he ate his dinner.   
"You're welcome, My Lady. Dinner is ready, if you would like to come and eat," Jake said, bowing slightly.   
Amelia sighed, "Must you all be so formal? I can understand it if we were back at the castle, but out here in the middle of a forest, it seems rather silly and stiff."   
"I know, Princess, and I understand your feelings, but I've told you already that we have to keep the formality, otherwise it would be too easy to slip up once we reach the castle. Keeping the formality insures   
that we will always treat you with the highest respect accorded you because of your rank, and it tells everyone else that they should treat you with that respect as well," Jake answered.   
Amelia muttered something acidic under her breath, but Jake pretended not to hear. With another sigh, Amelia nodded and followed him over to the cooking fire, where a delicious smelling meat stew had finished heating up. Being careful to take only one full bowl, Amelia settled herself down on the ground, leaning her back against an old, fallen log, and watched as her men quickly demolished the rest of the stew. If she had been traveling with Lina and Gourry, she would have jumped right in and fought with them over who could, and would, eat the most, but since she had begun this journey to Diolon, she had curbed her usual eating   
habits. The way she saw it, her men needed the food more than she did, because they were the ones who were expected to defend her should the need arise, and Amelia wanted to make sure they were well fed and   
happy because of that reason, especially over the course of the next few days, when she was going to be the most vulnerable.   
Amelia finished her stew in thoughtful silence. A few seconds later, one of the guardsmen took her bowl and finished packing up the rest of the eating supplies. Two men took up watch positions, while the rest arranged themselves around the small fire that had been built. Amelia settled down into her sleeping bag, wishing that she could have changed into her nightgown. She really hated sleeping in this gown, but her father had given her strict orders.   
"When you cross over into the Diolon Kingdom, you must keep your gown on at all times . . . no changing into your normal traveling outfit. This way, if Prince Nick sends out an escort, you will be ready for him and they will be able to tell your rank at a glance," he had said.   
Amelia had argued with him, but in this instance, Phil had put his foot down and kept it down. Trying to figure our her father's reasons were beginning to give her a headache, so she cut that line of thought and   
tried to will herself asleep. A few minutes later, she fell asleep with a smile on her face, the last thought to flit through her mind about Zelgadis. Everyone failed to notice the shadow that detached itself from a nearby tree, and headed towards the castle. 

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In the castle library, Nick Diolon, heir to the throne, was very close to throwing a temper tantrum.   
"I know she's got to be close, so why hasn't anyone been able to locate her?!" he yelled to the empty room.   
He had just grabbed a nearby glass decanter to hurl at the wall, when a knock on the library door stilled his hand.   
"WHAT?!" he roared, as the door opened fractionally, to reveal a small, skulking man who's face reminded Nick of a weasel, right down to the gleaming yellow eyes.   
"I hope you have something to report, Comadreja," Nick snarled, his grey eyes flashing with impatience.   
"My Lord," the small man bowed, then straightened and grinned, revealing a mouth full of very sharp yellow teeth. "I have located the Saillune Princess and her escort. They have just crossed over the western border, and have settled down for the night."   
Nick grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Excellent, Comadreja! Go and alert the men. Tell them to be ready to move out within the hour," he commanded.   
Comadreja bowed again, and exited the library. Once he was gone, Nick turned and gazed at one of the many shelves that contained hundreds of books, and said, "What do you think, Ryo?"   
A tall man stepped out of the bookcases, and moved to stand near Nick. As always, Nick had to orient himself in the face of this man's over whelming beauty. His snowy white hair cascaded down his back, while eyes that were an impossible light, icy blue observed everything around him. Those eyes never ceased to send chills down Nick's spine, for they were the lightless eyes of a Mazoku, the only proof that this man was not a human.   
"I think you are wise to move this early, Prince Nick. They will be tired from their long journey, and will not be up to full fighting force. Especially since your spies in Saillune have confirmed that this is the time the Princess will be unable to use her powers," he said, his voice as icy cold as his eyes.   
"That's what I figured," Nick answered, and moved over to a side board to pour himself a glass of brandy. He glanced over at the Mazoku to see if he wanted a glass as well, but the white haired man refused with a tip of his head.   
"You are certain that your men will be able to complete this mission?" Ryo asked, as Nick took a sip.   
"Very. And even if she does get away, which is not likely, we'll have the hair sample that we will need in order to create our decoy. Not only that, but the only direction she would be able to run leads to the edge of the Canyon. Without her magic, she'll be unable to cross over to safety on the other side. The river in that area of the Canyon is particularly fierce. No one has survived that area of rapids yet, so I've been told," Nick said.   
"Ah yes, the Dumping Grounds for political enemies, am I correct?" Ryo asked, amused. "I had wondered where the body of your father's advisor had disappeared to."   
Nick smirked. "He was buried, of course. He died of a massive heart attack."   
"I'm sure."   
At that moment, Comadreja quietly entered the library again, and bowed. "The men are ready, Your Highness."   
"Good. I want you to head out and capture the Princess of Saillune. Make sure you leave none of her guards alive. No one must be able to return to Saillune to tell of what happened. Any horses you run across are to be brought back here with the Princess. Make sure, though, that as soon as she is subdued, you get a lock of her hair. That is to be first priority," Nick ordered the small man.   
"As you wish, Your Highness," Comadreja replied, and bowed out.   
"Soon. Soon, the Kingdom of Saillune shall be in my possession," Nick said.   
"Just remember to get Princess Amelia's magic subdued before too long," Ryo reminded him. "She could cause some damage to your plans if you don't."   
"That's your department, my friend...not mine," Nick grinned, and walked out of the library.   
"Upstart, arrogant boy," Ryo muttered to himself. "If it wasn't for the fact that I need you to capture the Princess, I would have killed you long ago...in a slow and delicious manner, one that would have given me great pleasure. I just have to keep reminding myself to be patient and to keep an eye on the Princess's friends. Especially that little plan wrecker, Lina Inverse, and that chimera, Zelgadis. They could cause some trouble if they found out the truth." 

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"ACHOO!" Lina Inverse, sorcery genius and fiancee to Gourry Gabriev, sniffled and rubbed her nose.   
"Lina, are you alright? You're not catching a cold, are you?" Gourry asked, looking concerned.   
"I don't think so, Gourry. Something just tickled my nose, that's all," Lina answered, smiling at the big swordsman.   
"Oh, good. We don't need you showing up at Amelia's with a red nose, now do we?" Gourry said out loud.   
Lina sighed, "No Gourry, we don't."   
"Speaking of Amelia, why are we going to Saillune before we go to Sairagg?"   
"Gourry, Amelia's a princess, right?" Lina began, and smiled when Gourry nodded. "Ok, as a princess, and our friend, she'll most likely want to arrange some kind of engagement party for us, and that means lots of FOOD! It'll also help to get me ready for our meeting with Sylphiel."   
"But why do you need to get ready for when we tell Sylphiel?" Gourry asked.   
"Because I don't think she's going to be to happy with our news, and if she turns violent, which I don't think she will, I'll have to make sure that I'm ready...which means I have to be full, to be up to my full power," Lina explained patiently.   
"Why would Sylphiel be upset?"   
Lina blinked and stared at the swordsman, who was giving her an innocently confused look. "You mean you don't know?"   
"Know what?"   
"You DO have jellyfish-for-brains!" Lina exclaimed out loud, earning her another confused look. "Ok. Have you noticed how Sylphiel is always treating you really nicely?"   
"She treats everyone nicely. What's your point?"   
Lina felt her temper start to heat up at Gourry's denseness, but she gritted her teeth and plowed on. "Ok, how about how she's always calling you Gourry Dear?"   
"So?"   
Lina growled and grabbed Gourry in a headlock, yelling, "You moron! Sylphiel has a crush on you! I'm not quite sure if she's totally in love with you, but I do know she's very attached to you."   
"You're serious?" Gourry asked, looking like he had just been hit over the head with a one ton mallet.   
"Very. You honestly never noticed?"   
"No, never. I mean, I knew she was nice, but I thought she was like that with everyone."   
Lina sighed and released the swordsman, saying, "Well, now you know otherwise."   
Gourry opened his mouth to reply, when a calm, cool voice cut across their camp site.   
"Well, I see you two are still traveling around together."   
Gourry and Lina both turned in the direction that the voice had come from, and grinned as Zelgadis stepped out of the shadows and into the light cast by their fire.   
"Zelgadis! Hello! Long time no see!" Lina cried, getting up to hug the chimera.   
"Hello Lina, Gourry. Where are you two headed?" Zel asked, taking a seat next to the fire, and gazing at his friends.   
"We're on our way to Saillune. What about you?" Lina answered.   
"I was headed towards the Mountain of Tears. I hear there's an old shrine somewhere that practices an old form of magic."   
"I see. You're thinking that an older form of magic may hold the key to your cure?"   
"Yeah. So, why are you two headed to Saillune?"   
"We're going to see Amelia. Lina thinks she might throw a party for us with lots of food," Gourry answered with a grin.   
"Ahh, I see. I had heard you two had become a couple," Zel teased lightly. He didn't get the reaction that he had expected. Instead of getting angry with him, Lina blushed.   
"How did you hear that so fast?" she asked.   
"What?! You mean you two really are a couple now?"   
"You mean you were only teasing?"   
"Yeah. So, you're really official now?" Zel grinned.   
"Yep!" Gourry grinned back, puffing up with pride. "I asked Lina to marry me a little over a month ago."   
"So that's the type of party you're thinking Amelia will want to throw for you...an engagement party," Zel said.   
"Yeah, as long as Gourry doesn't go hiding rings in cakes again," Lina said with a playful shove in Gourry's direction, causing the blond to blush.   
"Oh? This sounds interesting," Zelgadis said. Truth was, he was desperate for anything that would help to take his mind off Amelia. For some reason, he had been thinking about her a lot, and he was starting   
to worry about her. He had a feeling it had something to do with her last letter. In it, she had told him she was making an ambassador's trip to the kingdom of Diolon, to meet with its Prince. Zel didn't like the sounds of that mission because he had heard rumors that the Prince was involved with the Mazoku and, if that was the case, than Amelia could be in very real danger.   
"Hello, earth to Zel," Lina said, waving her hand in front of his eyes, causing Zel to start with surprise.   
"Huh? Oh, sorry," he said.   
"I was asking you if you wanted to hear about how Gourry proposed to me," Lina repeated.   
Zel grinned, "Sure, I would love to hear. From what you said about cakes and rings, it sounds like it was one of your more interesting moments."   
"That it was . . . ," Lina trailed off.   
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Next episode: Lina tells a story, Amelia gets in trouble, and Zel has some interesting dreams.   



	2. Chapter 2

"So, where shall I begin?" Lina mused out loud.   
"Could always start with dinner," Gourry answered.   
"Nah, I think I'll start a little before dinner," Lina replied, and began . . . . 

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"I'm hungry!" Lina whined, dragging her feet a bit.   
"Come on, Lina, it's not that much further to the nearest town," Gourry answered her, looking back over his shoulder at the wilting red head.   
"But I wanna eat NOW!" Lina cried, stopping and planting her feet.   
Gourry got a wicked look on his face, and teased, "Well, if you don't feel like walking, I could always carry you to the next town."   
"No thanks! I'll walk!" Lina said, picking up her feet and moving out, while Gourry chuckled to himself. Worked every time.   
They reached the town a few moments later, and Lina instantly headed towards the nearest tavern, her nose leading the way. Gourry followed a little behind her, but stopped when he reached the door. Making sure that Lina was occupied at the moment, he reached into one of his pockets, searching for something. When he found it, he grinned, and entered the tavern. He motioned for one of the waitresses to come over and when she reached him, he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her with some whispered instructions. The waitress nodded, grinned, and disappeared into the kitchen, while Gourry joined Lina at the table she had staked out.   
"Oooo! They have chocolate cake for dessert!" Lina cried, her eyes getting starry.   
"Sure does look good," Gourry replied, as the waitress returned to their table to take their orders.   
"I'll have everything with double portions!" Lina said, while Gourry ordered five items, triple portions, of course. The waitress left, and returned a few seconds later with a tray that literally groaned underneath the weight of all the food. Lina and Gourry didn't waste any time; with weapons at the ready, they attacked the mountain of food while cries of, "That's mine! Gimme!" rang throughout the dining area.   
After a short but fierce battle, both Lina and Gourry leaned back in their chairs with happy sighs of satisfaction. Gourry caught the eye of their waitress, and she quickly came over with a large selection of   
desserts. Gourry chose a key lime pie, and Lina chose a whole chocolate cake, just as he knew she would. Once the desserts arrived, they began to dig in, with Gourry watching Lina closely.   
"What is it, Gourry?" Lina asked around a mouthful of chocolate.   
"Nothing, I just . . . ," Gourry broke off when he noticed a glint of gold in the forkful that Lina was now aiming towards her mouth. "Lina, don't!" he cried, and grabbed her wrist just as she was about to put the fork into her mouth.   
"What do you think you're doing?!" Lina angrily demanded, while trying to wrench her wrist out of Gourry's strong grip.   
"Don't eat that piece of cake," Gourry said by way of explanation.   
"Gourry, you're not making any sense," Lina replied, starting to get impatient.   
"Just look at that piece, all right?" Gourry almost begged, releasing her wrist.   
Lina gave him a funny look, but did as he asked, and blinked when she saw the same dull glint of gold that Gourry had picked up on.   
"What the...?" she wondered, as she carefully cleared the chocolate off a delicate gold band. Upon closer examination, Lina could make out a faint pattern in the gold that made the ring look like it was an everlasting ring of fire. She felt Gourry's hand touch hers, and she looked up, her eyes wide.   
"I know this probably isn't the best place, but, well, I love you, Lina. Will you marry me?" Gourry asked, his blue eyes filled with both hope and fear.   
Lina stared at Gourry, her thoughts in complete chaos. Gourry has asked her to marry him; Gourry said he loved her, but how did she feel about Gourry? She tried to organize her line of thinking and found   
herself remembering instead...remembering a pair of innocent blue eyes that she knew as well as her own...remembering a sweet smile that had always seemed to brighten up her day. She remembered how empty she had felt when Hellmaster Phibritzo had kidnapped Gourry and she thought she would never see him again and, very faintly, she could remember his voice calling out to her as The Lord of Nightmares had directed her body into the Realm of Chaos. She grabbed onto that faint memory and more followed. Memories of Gourry chasing after her as she was drawn further and further into Chaos, of him grabbing her like he would never let her go, and of her disappearing from his arms, leaving him alone in a world that was composed of Nothingness. She remembered the joy she had felt as her body had merged and become one with The Lord of Nightmares, of that absolute power that had flown for a brief moment through her veins. He was the reason she had come back. The joy she had felt upon seeing his face had mirrored the same joy she had felt when she had been one with L-sama. That joy welled up inside of her now, causing her eyes to shine and her face to light up with an inner beauty.   
Gourry shifted a bit, unsure of what to make of Lina's silence and the strange way she was staring at him. Suddenly, she smacked him over the head with her plate.   
"Ow! Lina, what?" Gourry managed to ask, only to be cut off.   
"Gourry, do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words from you?" Lina demanded.   
"Ummm," Gourry answered, now throughly confused.   
"Try...ever since we first met, though I only now realized it," Lina said, more to herself than to him.   
"Is that a . . . no?" Gourry asked, his face dropping a bit.   
"NO, YOU IDIOT! IT'S A YES!" Lina screamed, losing her temper.   
"R-really?" Gourry stammered, afraid to believe his ears.   
"Yes, Gourry. I love you, too, and I would be honored to become your wife."   
Gourry didn't hesitate after that. He jumped up, grabbed Lina around the waist, and swung her above his head while she laughed, her heart filled with joy. He then dropped her down into his arms, and said, "I love you, Lina Inverse." He gently brushed some of Lina's red hair out of her face before cupping her chin and lowering his mouth to hers. They both jumped apart when the entire dinning area erupted into applause, with the women sighing over the romance of the moment, and the men whistling and shouting their approval.   
Coughing to hide their embarrassment, Lina and Gourry sat back down at their table and studied their desserts. Gourry blinked, realized something, and picked the ring up off the table. He held it out to her with a question in his eyes, and without a word, Lina removed her left glove and held her hand out to the swordsman, who gravely slipped the ring onto her finger. Lina then replaced her glove.   
"Pity we have to cover it up like that," Gourry remarked.   
"Until I can get some gloves that have an open area where the ring can be seen, this'll have to do. I don't want to wear it outside of the glove because I don't want to lose it," Lina answered, finding that the   
weight of the ring was the most comforting thing she had felt in a long time. "I can safely eat the rest of my cake now, right?"   
"Yeah," Gourry answered, laughing, and the two dug back into their desserts, occasionally stopping to glance at each other, blush, and then smile; each knowing that the other's heart was singing. 

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". . . and that's how it happened," Lina finished up, taking her glove off and showing her fire ring to Zel.   
"If Gourry hadn't been watching you, you probably would have wound up eating your ring without knowing it," the chimera responded, finding the imagery that went along with his statement pretty funny.   
"I know that's the last time I try to surprise Lina by putting something into her food," Gourry grinned.   
"I'm surprised you tried it at all," Zel replied, well acquainted with Lina's formidable eating habits.   
"Well, I thought she would see it before she wound up eating it," Gourry said, then glanced at the fire which was starting to die down a bit. "I'm going to go grab some more firewood."   
So saying, Gourry stood up and moved off into the shadows of the forest that surrounded them. Zel gazed into the fire for a few moments, seemingly lost in thought, and Lina was content to leave it like that.   
"Lina, are you happy?" the chimera suddenly asked, moving his gaze from the fire to the red head.   
"Um, yes, I am. Very happy. Why do you ask?" Lina asked, perplexed.   
"I was just wondering," Zel replied. "It took you two long enough to realize your feelings for each other, that's all."   
"Well, Gourry realized them before I did. However, you sound as if you knew something like this was going to eventually happen," Lina said, giving Zel a funny look.   
Zel grinned at her, and said, "You could say that. I've known for a long time how you and Gourry felt, and I wondered exactly how long it would take until one of you popped the question."   
"Just how long are we talking?" Lina asked.   
"Ever since the fight with Shabranigdo."   
Lina fell over in shock, and sputtered, "But that . . . so long . . . "   
"It was four years ago, to be exact, and you had just defeated the Dark Lord. We were walking down a road and Gourry had his arm around your shoulders, while you were denying that you were the most powerful sorceress around. That was when I realized that there was something between you two, if you want an exact time frame," Zel answered calmly.   
Lina stared at him for a moment, then said, "What's on your mind, Zel?"   
"What are you talking about?" Zel asked, startled.   
"You have this look on your face that says that you're thinking about something, but that you're confused about what you're thinking about. It might help if you try to talk it out," Lina answered.   
Zel stared at Lina thoughtfully for a few moments and sighed.   
"I guess you really should know, seeing as how you're heading towards Saillune, but Amelia may be in danger," Zel began, and told Lina of Amelia's letters and her latest mission to the Kingdom of Diolon.   
"Diolon?!" Lina nearly shouted. "I've heard some pretty nasty rumors about that place. The most disturbing is that the royal family is somehow involved with a Mazoku. What was Phil thinking, sending Amelia up there?"   
"What's going on?" Gourry asked, stepping into the firelight with an armful of wood. While he added more branches to the fire, Lina told him what Zel had told her. Gourry listened in thoughtful silence while he tried to absorb and understand all that Lina and Zel were telling him about royal families and how it was a really bad thing when they mixed with Mazoku.   
"Basically, what you're trying to say is that Amelia could be in serious danger, and that we should be prepared for the worst when we reach Saillune," Gourry said, making it sound more like a statement then a question.   
"I don't like to think that way, but you're right, and since we don't know the route that Amelia and the guards took, we can't find her in time to warn her of the danger she could be in. Not to mention how visible of a target she'll be if they decide to do anything while she's riding. It figures that Phil would insist on his daughter, a 'true warrior of justice', riding a solid white horse," Lina snorted with disgust.   
"Actually, Amelia got a new horse recently that's pitch black, not white. She said Phil pitched a fit when she told him that was the horse she wanted, but she didn't back down, and has been training it for the past year. I think she said it's name was Safir," Zel commented. "Either way, that should help conceal her a bit if they're riding and attacked at night, but in the daytime it won't make much of a difference."   
Lina sighed, then yawned. "As much as I hate to admit it, we can't do anything at the moment. It would be best if we all got some sleep, and set out for Saillune first thing in the morning. You are coming with us, aren't you Zel? The shortest way to the Mountain of Tears is through Saillune, you know," Lina added, looking at the chimera.   
Zelgadis thought for a few moments, running over options and plans in his mind. In a gesture that had become a habit, his right hand reached to his water bottle, and touched the bracelet that was hanging off the   
lip. An image of dark black hair and unfathomable blue eyes rose in his mind, and he made his decision. He wanted to see her again, to make sure she was safe and happy. Only then would this unnecessary worry leave him, and he could continue on with his quest for a cure without any more annoyances. At least, that's what he told himself. He wasn't about to look into other reasons for going to see Amelia.   
"Yeah, Lina, I'll come with you. If anything, Amelia could probably tell me exactly where the shrines are that I'm looking for," Zel answered.   
"Good," Lina grinned, the stretched. "Well, I'm headed to bed. Gourry already said he would take first watch, so feel free to use his tent, Zel," and with that, Lina stood up, gave Gourry a goodnight kiss, and disappeared into her tent.   
"You can pick your jaw up, Zelgadis. We are engaged, you know," Gourry said, his voice laced with amusement.   
"Sorry. I'm just not used to seeing Lina being affectionate," Zel explained.   
"I know. It took her several weeks to get used to the idea of being engaged to me. You know how she is," Gourry grinned.   
"Boy do I," Zelgadis laughed. "Well, if you don't mind loaning me your tent, I'll try to get some sleep. I'll take second watch, too."   
"Thanks, Zel. Sleep well," Gourry said as Zel disappeared into the other tent, then settled down and decided to pass the time by sharpening and cleaning the blade of his sword. Gourry pulled his blade out and eyed it. It wasn't the Sword of Light, but it had proven to be a reliable blade the times Gourry had had to use it. Gourry pulled out a cleaning cloth, and set to his self-appointed task, the sounds of fire crackling and the night animals keeping him company. 

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Amelia was jerked awake by a hand over her mouth and a knife at her throat.   
"If you value your life, you'll do as I say," a harsh voice whispered in her ear, and a rough hand grabbed her hair and jerked her into a sitting position, alerting Amelia to the fact that there was more than one person with her. The hand in her hair suddenly gave a jerk, yanking out a small clump of her hair. Tears of pain rushed to her eyes, but she blinked them back, determined not to show any weakness in front of her attackers. After all, she was accompanied by over a dozen Saillune Royal Guards, and if she could just get her mouth free . . .   
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice growled as she made a move to bite the hand that was over her mouth, and the knife pressed a little harder against her throat, pricking the skin. She froze when she felt a tiny drop of blood slide down her throat.   
All was quiet for a few moments, and then heavy footsteps approached the glowing embers of the camp fire and sparks flew into the air as a fresh log was tossed on top of them. After a few seconds, the log caught on fire, and flickering flames illuminated the campsite enough for Amelia to be able to see around her. Her eyes widened in horror and she made a faint whimpering sound when she saw the bodies of her guards strewn about the campsite like garbage. Most had been downed by arrows, but a few had been slashed to pieces with swords. Amelia could only reason that the arrows had taken down most of the guards while they were sleeping, and those that were on watch had been dealt with by the sword, most likely when they weren't looking, which explained why she hadn't been awakened by any sounds of combat. There hadn't been a fight in the first place.   
As she gazed about her, Amelia felt her fear turn to anger, and she made a growling sound low in her throat. How dare they treat her people like this! If only her mouth were free she'd show them the folly of their evil ways!   
"Ah-ah, Princess," her captor said, amusement evident in his voice. "I won't be letting you go anytime soon, so you might as well settle down. We don't really have the patience to listen to one of your justice speeches right now, seeing as how we're running on a rather tight schedule."   
Amelia ground her teeth together, not caring that the creep who held her silent could feel the grinding motion of her jaw. She tried to grab the knife to force it away from her throat, but the man that had jerked her upright grabbed her hands and held her still. Her captor suddenly barked an order, and one man came towards them with a length of rope. He jerked her arms behind her and bound her wrists, barely leaving enough room for the circulation to make it to her fingers. He carefully cut off the excess rope, and handed it to her silencer, who removed his hand from her mouth. She was surprised by his move, but didn't waste time in opening her mouth to demand what this was all about. What she got was a rag shoved into her mouth with the rope passing over it, keeping it in place. Amelia kicked out in frustration, but her captor merely laughed as he removed the knife from her throat, and moved to where she could finally see his face in the firelight. Amelia shuddered when she found herself meeting a pair of gleaming, yellow eyes that were set in a face that resembled a weasel's face.   
"Now, don't think that we've tied you up because we're afraid you'll use magic on us, because that's not the case," the weasel man said, and the six men that were with him snickered in a way that made Amelia's skin crawl. "Oh no, that's not the case at all. You see, we have it on very good authority that you're unable to use your power at this time of the month, and will be unable to use it for several more days."   
Amelia's eyes widened as she was dragged out of her sleeping bag and over to an old fallen log that one of her guardsman had dragged near the fire. Her eyes filled with tears when she saw Jake's body laying in front of the log, an arrow protruding from his chest. She bit her lip as she was unceremoniously dumped in front of his body while her captors turned their attentions to the business of gathering together loot and rounding up the horses. Amelia closed her eyes briefly when she saw Safir among the other horses, which told her just how fast these men had acted. She had trained Safir to take flight and head home at the first sign of trouble, but the black horse was so young and had been raised in such a secure environment that he had waited to long before figuring out that they were in real danger. Now, he stood amongst the tan horses of her guardsmen, ears twitching and eyes wide and confused. It would take a direct command from her for him to even act against the men that were handling him, and that was impossible at the moment.   
"No time to worry about Safir now," Amelia thought desperately. "I've got to find a way to get out of these ropes! I might have a chance if I can escape these villains and make a run for it. I know I have no   
chance of fighting them. Dammit! If only I had a knife on me, then I could cut these ropes! Scratch that, they would have taken the knife first thing. I wonder who they're working for and why."   
Amelia's whirling thoughts were cut off by a soft, sticky touch against one of her bound hands. Being careful to not draw too much attention to herself, she turned her head to the left, and glanced down. If she hadn't been gagged, she would have screamed, because Jake's glazed eyes gazed back up at her. The touch against her hand came again, and her eyes widened when she saw Jake blink.   
"I-I'm dying, Princess," Jake's voice whispered, causing Amelia to strain her hearing in order to make out his next words. "I have . . . a knife. Cut you . . . free. . . then . . . run . . . " Jake's voice trailed off as the mortally wounded young man brought his belt knife up to the rope that tied Amelia's wrists together, and he gathered his strength and began to cut. Amelia felt tears well up in her eyes and slide down her cheeks, and she bowed her head, hoping that her captors would think she was weeping with fright. She began straining against the ropes, pulling them taut and making it easier for Jake's knife to cut through her bindings. She felt her bonds loosen, then give completely as Jake's knife sliced through the last little bit. She made sure to keep her hands held behind her as if she were still bound as she turned her head once again to the left, looking for all the world like she was gazing at the group of horses, when she was really looking down at her guardsman and friend. Jake's eyes gazed back up at her, and she felt him press his knife into her right hand.   
"Might . . . need it . . . luck . . . Pri . . . Am . .," Jake's voice trailed off as his eyes closed and his body slumped down.   
Tears freely poured down Amelia's cheeks and she swore silently that if she were given the chance, she would avenge the deaths of all her guardsmen, who had paid for her safety with their lives.   
"What's the matter, Princess? Scared?" a deep voice bellowed across the campsite. "Well, don't worry. Pretty soon I'll be making you feel much better."   
Amelia went cold at the implication of his words, and knew that she would have to make a break for freedom the first chance she got. Before anyone could make a move, however, the weasel faced little man, who was apparently the leader, drew his sword and had it pressed against the mid-section of the man that had threatened her.   
"I will have none of that, is that clearly understood? We're to deliver her to the castle unharmed, got it?" the man said, pressing more and more firmly against the sword, while the larger man began to sweat.   
"Understood!" all the men said, and the large man breathed a visible sigh of relief as the weasel faced man pulled the sword away from his midriff.   
Seeing her chance, Amelia yanked her hands in front of her, ripped the gag over her head, jumped to her feet and ran into the forest. She heard the men curse behind her and, praying that her horse would be able to hear her command, screamed over her shoulder, "HOME SAFIR!" There came the sound of a frightened whinny, and then the ground shook as several dozen horses took off in the opposite direction that Amelia took, telling her that Safir had heard her command. Now all she could do was pray that he would make it home safely.   
As she barreled her way through the forest, she cursed the long skirt she was wearing, because it seemed as if it got tangled with her legs every few steps she took. It also got caught on tree branches,   
making her imagination run wild with thoughts that the forest itself were trying to stop her.   
A hand suddenly shot out of the darkness and grabbed her, whirling her around and dealing a stinging blow to her cheek, sending her crashing to her knees. The hand reached out again and hauled her roughly to her feet, and she found herself staring up at the man that had threatened her across the campsite earlier. He slapped her again, causing her head to rock to the side, but his other hand prevented her from falling.   
"You think you're going to get away?" the man hissed, bringing his face so close to Amelia's that their noses seemed to touch.   
"I don't think I'm going to get away, I know I am. Justice is on my side," Amelia snarled back, trying to bite him, but he only moved his head away from hers and laughed.   
"I don't think so," he said, and placed one hand against the small of her back, dragging her until her body was flush with his. Amelia's eyes widened when she realized what he was going to do, and jerked her   
right hand up and in between their bodies. The man gave an odd gurgling sound, and a warm fluid splashed against her dress. Amelia's hands flew up to her mouth in horror as the man stumbled away from her, the knife Jake had given her sticking obscenely out of his rib cage area. The man looked down at the knife in surprise, then up at Amelia as he slowly collapsed to the ground, and the gurgling sound stopped. Amelia remained frozen with fear and horror until she heard the voices of the other men closing in and, with a strangled half sob, she plunged back into the undergrowth of the forest, the man's blood slowly drying on her dress. Behind her, she heard the men give a shout as they came across the body of the man who had attacked her, and terror leant speed to her feet, but she could still hear her pursuers as they closed in, and her heart lodged somewhere in the vicinity of her throat. She ignored the sounds of ripping fabric and tearing seams as she raced through the dense underbrush of the forest. Her once expensive silk dress had now been reduced to a state of rags by the thick underbrush, but she didn't care because now she could run without her skirts getting tangled up with her legs and slowing her down.   
Looking ahead, she could barely make out the moonlight through an area of extremely thick bushes. Amelia sobbed as she felt her legs tire, and she just knew that she was going to get caught. If only she could use her magic! She stifled a scream as the harsh voices grew closer, and with a panicked burst of speed, she barreled through the row of bushes blocking her from open ground, only to have the ground drop out from underneath her as she ran off the edge of a steep canyon, and plunged into the river below.   
At the top of the cliff, Amelia's pursuers stood near the edge and peered down at the swirling waters of the river below.   
"Where do ye think she'll turn up?" one man spat.   
"Most likely she'll wind up dead. No one could survive that river," the leader grinned. "We can count this job finished. We got the clump of hair, and no one is alive to tell the truth."   
"What about those horses, Comadreja?" a tall lanky man asked.   
"Gather as many as you can find, but the others will probably be caught before they can even cross our borders. Now, let's head back to the castle." With that, the men turned around, and melted back into the forest.   
Amelia found herself in a true battle for her life, as she fought her way again and again to the surface of the river for a breath of life giving air. She was already tired from her run through the forest, and it became harder and harder to keep her head above water. She was tossed around through the water, occasionally slamming against the bottom of the river as the water pressure forced her down. As she clawed her way to the surface again, she felt something large float by her. She reached out and caught one of the branches of an old log that was making its way merrily down the river and clung to it with her waning strength, coughing and struggling to reach a more secure position amongst its branches as she vowed to never give up in this battle.   
That battle was lost, however, when the log suddenly bounced off of a large rock that was protruding out of the water, causing Amelia's perch to go spinning around in a dizzying circle. She was completely unaware of the second bolder until the back of her head struck it as her log spun by. With her last thought only of Zel, Amelia felt the darkness claim her. 

-------------------------------------- 

"AMELIA!" Zelgadis screamed, jerking awake and sitting up, bathed in sweat.   
"Zel? Zel, what's wrong?" Gourry and Lina's concerned voices sounded outside of his tent, and the flap opened to reveal their worried faces.   
"It's . . . it's nothing," Zel answered, his voice shaking a little.   
"Like hell it's nothing," Lina said, and grabbed Zel by the arm. He blinked as he found himself dragged outside and made to sit next to the fire, while Gourry added more wood to the blaze.   
"What was that all about?" Zel asked, confused.   
"You wake me up by yelling in your sleep, then cause both Gourry and myself to nearly jump out of our skin when you screamed Amelia's name. Not only that, but you looked like you had seen a ghost, or something else. Now, what was all that screaming about?" Lina demanded, sitting down next to Gourry and across from Zel.   
"Just dreaming, that's all," Zel answered shortly.   
"Look, Zelgadis, we can tell that something is bothering you. Lina and I are your friends, and when we see something is bothering you, we'll worry and want to help. Now, tell us what kind of dream would cause you to wake up screaming," Gourry said, his gentle blue eyes completely serious.   
Zel stared at the tall swordsman in shock. It had never occurred to him that his friends would be concerned about him, and the swordsman's words and Lina's actions had quite literally come as a surprise to him. He took a deep breath, and made his decision.   
"My dream started normal enough. You know, the usual nightmares about Rezo turning me into a chimera and all, but then the dream suddenly changed. Everything went black, and then Amelia was suddenly standing in front of me. She was looking at me over her shoulder, smiling, and she looked like she wanted to say something to me. Suddenly, the ground disappeared from underneath her, and she began to fall, calling my name. I was trying to reach out to her when I woke up."   
Lina looked thoughtful for several seconds, while Gourry asked, "Do you think that your dream may be trying to tell us that Amelia is in trouble?"   
"We already know she could be in trouble, Gourry," Lina answered, while Zel nodded his head.   
"Especially if the rumors are true about the Diolon Royal Family working with a Mazoku," Zel added.   
"So what are we going to do?" Gourry wondered.   
"At the moment, nothing. I want to think about this dream of yours for a little longer, Zel, because something about it sounds familiar," Lina said.   
"That's fine. Look, if you guys want to go to bed, I'll take watch for the rest of the night," Zel offered.   
"Are you sure, Zel?" Lina asked.   
"I'm sure. I don't think I'll be wanting any sleep for a while."   
"All right, then. If I figure out why your dream sounds familiar, I'll let you know," Lina said, and vanished back into her tent.   
"Goodnight, Zelgadis. Thanks for telling us," Gourry said, and vanished into his tent.   
The chimera sat and gazed into the fire, lost in thought. He tried to figure out what his dream meant, and why he had been dreaming about Amelia in the first place, but he came up blank. He hoped that Lina would be able to come up with some ideas. He sighed, and settled himself in for a long night. 

---------------------------- 

Next episode: It's off to Saillune! Ryo is not a happy Mazoku, Lina gets some ideas, and something has washed up on the river bank.   



	3. Chapter 3

Ryo snarled silently as he paced the confines of the library, and Nick watched him with more than a little concern. Ryo's dark powers were crackling around him, making the very air appear alive with its evil.   
"I can't believe they let her escape them," he growled. "Your men are incompetent, Nick."   
"You forget. She's most likely dead. The fall itself probably killed her," Nick replied, trying to keep his voice calm in the face of Ryo's anger.   
Ryo took in a deep breath, and let it out again. Whether she was dead or not was of no help; the princess was out of his reach for the moment, so it would be best to ignore his feelings and go forward with the plan he and Nick had created.   
"This is true, I had forgotten how steep the walls of The Canyon are. Now, did your men get some of her hair?" Ryo asked, turning a cold gaze upon the Diolon Prince.   
"They did indeed," Nick answered, and handed a small bag that contained a hunk of Amelia's hair to the Mazoku.   
"Excellent. We shall proceed immediately."   
Ryo turned and walked out of the library, with Nick following closely behind. They passed through many doors and hallways until they came to a small door that was set apart from the rest of the castle by how far underground it was situated. Nick pulled a large, iron key from his pocket, and unlocked the door.   
Once inside, he made sure to lock it again before turning to Ryo.   
"Can we have some light in here?" he asked, sounding a little testy.   
"What's the matter, Your Highness? Afraid of the dark?" Ryo sneered.   
"Not hardly," Nick scoffed. "In order for me to do my part, I have to be able to see."   
"Sure sure, whatever you say," Ryo answered, but quickly tossed up a light spell that illuminated the entire room and its contents.   
"Ahhh, there it is," Nick grinned, and walked over to the large copying machine that took up three-fourths of the tiny space. "Just how long did you say this process would take?"   
"Not as long as it would if you were going for a perfect copy," Ryo answered, moving to fiddle with some of the dials on the machine. "This machine is purely Mazoku built, so it's a great deal faster than anything the current batch of copying freaks can come up with. Not only that, but in order to create a perfect copy, you have to copy everything from memories to hair count. Since we're only going for what is essentially an empty shell, it should only take about an hour until it's finished."   
"Well then, let's get started," Nick said, and dropped the hunk of hair into the copying machine, while Ryo added the growth culture and set some of the dials.   
"Now, we wait," Ryo said, and settled back to do just that.   
"I hate waiting," Nick complained.   
"Get used to waiting, Your Highness. Most of life is spent that way," Ryo said smoothly.   
"Well, while you keep an eye on the copy machine, I'm going to go grab something to eat," Nick shot back, and quickly unlocked the door, slamming it as he left before hastily locking it again.   
He returned an hour later just as Ryo turned off the power to the machine.   
"Well?" he asked, gazing into the tiny window on the door of the monstrosity.   
"Let's open the door and find out. Are you ready?" Ryo asked, reaching for the lever that lifted the door.   
Nick nodded and moved to stand a little to the right of the slowly opening door, a feral grin on his face. Ryo eyed the copy that emerged, and nodded. It was perfect; an exact replica of Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune stood before him, and he couldn't help but smirk at the sight of his handiwork.   
She was aware of only two things. One, she was cold, and two, she couldn't see a thing. It probably had something to do with the fact that she had her eyes closed. She had just started to lift her eyelids,   
revealing mismatched eyes when a knife flashed out of the darkness and buried itself to the hilt between her ribs. With a soft sigh, she collapsed onto the ground in a lifeless heap, as her short life came to an end.   
"That was efficient," Ryo remarked, while staring at the pool of blood forming beneath the copy's body.   
"No need to get upset because I didn't let you kill her your way. If I had, there would be too many unanswered questions from Saillune, and they're questions we don't want asked."   
Ryo snarled silently to himself yet again. This just wasn't his night. First the Princess is lost, and then her copy is killed before he even got a chance to play with it. He was beginning to regret ever agreeing to work with the Prince of Diolon, but it was too late to back out now.   
"The transportation is ready, and if they don't make any unscheduled stops along the way, they should reach Saillune with our present in four days," Ryo said, making sure to keep his disgust out of his voice.   
"Excellent. I want to know, though, how it is that our men will arrive there in four days, when it took the princess over a month to even reach our borders," Nick remarked.   
"You forget, Your Highness," Ryo sneered, "Princess Amelia was traveling with a fully armed escort and was expected to make diplomatic stops along the way to reinforce Saillune's ties with their northern   
allies. Your men will be making a straight trip to Saillune the fastest way possible."   
"Oh? And what way is that?"   
"They'll be flying," Ryo answered with a grin, and vanished, leaving Nick with the body of the copy.   
"Stupid Mazoku," Nick mumbled while he summoned help to come and clean up the body and the blood. He wished that he could go with his men to Saillune when they dropped off the body. Seeing the Crown Prince Philionel's face when presented with his dead daughter would be a sight worth seeing. 

------------------------------ 

The sun had just started peeking over the horizon when Jonathan Coddle and his twin brother Daniel made their way down to the bank of the river that bordered their family's farm.   
"I tell you, Jon, I'm worried about Mom," Daniel said, brushing a lock of sandy brown hair out of his eyes.   
"I know. She hasn't seemed like herself since Ashly left for the city. Still, I think she'll get better once planting season starts up," Jonathan replied.   
"You could be . . . hey, someone's lying on the beach," Daniel broke off, and pointed, where the unmistakable shape of a person could be seen lying on their back in the sand.   
"Come on, they might need help," Jonathan said.   
As the two young men came closer, the human form slowly took on the shape of a young woman who was just barely covered with scraps of cloth that had once been a very expensive silk dress...a silk dress that was covered with blood.   
"Do you think that's hers?" Daniel asked.   
"I don't know, but we better make sure that she's still alive and in one piece," Jonathan answered. "Then we can try to figure out if the blood is hers or not."   
The twins knelt next to the woman, and breathed sighs of relief when they saw her chest rise and fall with deep, even breathing. Daniel pulled off his shirt, and draped it over her front, offering the unconscious woman a small measure of modesty, then sat back on his heels. Jonathan took a closer look at her limbs, moving them and checking them over to make sure that she hadn't broken anything.   
Daniel frowned when he noticed a small puddle of blood that was spreading out from underneath her head, and moved for a closer look, calling Jonathan over. Being careful not to jar her, Daniel lifted up her head, and Jonathan parted her hair. He gave a low whistle when he saw the large bump that was forming on the back of her head.   
"We need to stop the bleeding," Jonathan stated.   
"Well, duh," Daniel replied, and took his brother's shirt when he offered it to him. He quickly formed a pad under Jonathan's instructions, and gently pressed it against the woman's head, only letting up when Jonathan told him to. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw that the bleeding had stopped. The two men gently placed the woman's head back onto the ground, and sat back to survey their find. The woman was beautiful, to say the least. Her face was peaceful, her features even and refined. Her black hair was long and silky looking, despite the snarls and brambles that were caught in it.   
"So, what do you think?" Jonathan asked, looking to his brother.   
"What do you mean, what do I think?" Daniel asked.   
"You're the one that's studying to become a detective, you know. Now is a good chance to put your skills to the test," Jonathan replied.   
Daniel turned his gaze to the young woman, and began to try to put his so-called skills to work.   
"I don't think the blood on her dress is hers, even though she was bleeding from the head," he began.   
"You mean we may have a murderer on our banks?" Jonathan asked, startled.   
"I'm not sure. We'll have to ask her when she wakes up. However, I think if she is responsible for someone's death, then it was because she was provoked. Look here," Daniel said, pointing to several long, deep slashes that were on her legs. "These are indications that she was running from someone or something through some dense underbrush. Not only that, but there's a light scratch on her neck that I want you to look at."   
"Me?" Jonathan asked, looking startled.   
"If I'm studying to be a detective, you're studying to be a doctor, right?" Daniel snorted, giving his brother a look.   
"Oh, yeah," Jonathan replied, flushing. He bent over the young woman and gazed at the wound on her neck.   
"It's superficial, that's for sure. And it wasn't made the same way that the slashes on her legs were. See how even and smooth it is? Now, compare that with the slashes on her legs, which are jagged and uneven. This cut was made by a knife," Jonathan concluded.   
Their discussion was cut short by a low moan, and the woman's eyelashes fluttered for a brief moment before lifting, revealing deep, clear blue eyes. She blinked, confused, and tried to sit up, only to fall back down when the world decided it wanted to do the hokey-pokey.   
"Take it easy! You have a nasty bump on your head and shouldn't move," a pleasant male voice said, and she rolled her eyes in that direction, meeting a pair of gentle green eyes.   
"Can you tell us what happened?" another voice asked, and her eyes turned to again meet gentle green eyes. She blinked, wondering why she was seeing double.   
"I . . . I think I was . . . chased," she croaked, and furrowed her brow when her memories suddenly went fuzzy.   
"Where are you from?" one of the voices asked.   
"I . . . I don't know," she answered, looking and sounding confused.   
"Can you tell us who you are?"   
"N... wait.... I think..... I think my name is Amelia," the woman replied, but then her eyes filled with tears. "But I can't remember anything else!"   
"Take it easy," Jonathan said when Amelia began to become agitated. She stared at him for a few moments, her blue eyes searching, before slowly relaxing.   
"Who are you?" Amelia asked, trying desperately to ignore her pounding headache and missing memories.   
"Sorry, that was rather rude of us. I'm Jonathan Coddle, and this is my brother, Daniel," Jonathan replied, pointing to Daniel.   
"Oh, you're twins," Amelia smiled weakly. "I wasn't sure if I were seeing double or not."   
Daniel grinned down at her, and said, "A lot of people feel that way."   
Jonathan looked thoughtful for a moment, then pulled Daniel aside when Amelia closed her eye, signaling that the little talking she had done had tired her out.   
"I want you to get Mom and the cart. I don't think we can risk carrying her back home with that head wound," he whispered.   
"You mean we're going to be taking her home?!" Daniel squeaked.   
"What other option do we have until she regains her memory? We can't just leave her out here," Jonathan answered, and Daniel slowly nodded his head.   
"All right. You stay here with her until I come back," he said, and Jonathan moved to sit near Amelia, who opened her eyes and smiled weakly at him.   
"Dan's gone to get our mother and our cart," Jonathan said.   
"How come?" Amelia asked softly.   
"What, you want to stay on the bank of the river?" he teased.   
"No, not really," Amelia answered, and closed her eyes again.   
"Hurry, Daniel," Jonathan whispered, checking Amelia's pulse and finding it thready. "We need to get her into a warm bed with someone who can watch over her and keep her awake. I don't like the way she keeps dropping off like this." 

----------------------------------- 

"Morning Zel!" Lina called as she moved around the campsite, putting away utensils while Gourry packed up the tents.   
Zel muttered something under his breath, and went back to sucking on his coffee, resigning Lina and the rest of the world to hell until his brain cleared of its sleep-deprived fog. Lina clucked at him and said something, but he ignored her while he waited for the caffeine to kick in.   
It had just started to work when Lina came over and sat down next to him, a serious look in her eyes that told Zel she had something she wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how to say it   
"Just spit it out, Lina," Zel said shortly.   
"You're pleasant in the morning," Lina tried to tease, then sighed. "Sorry, just trying to cheer you up."   
"Well, you look like you're wanting to say something to me, but you don't know how to go about it. I was advising you to spit it out because that's usually the best way to say it," Zel replied.   
"Fine, I'll do it that way. I think there is a connection between you and Amelia that you're not allowing yourself to acknowledge," Lina said, giving Zel a very direct look.   
"Huh?" Zel asked, puzzled.   
"Remember how I said something about the dream you had sounded familiar?" Lina asked, and continued when Zel nodded his head. "Well, this morning when I first woke up, I happened to remember where I had heard about something similar. There was this old book that my older sister had when I was younger, and I used to enjoy hearing stories read from it before I went to bed. Well, there was this one story about a Shamanist sorcerer and sorceress who traveled the land together. In fact, they were the creators of the Ra Tilt, now that I think about it. But back then, the Ra Tilt could only be successful when cast simultaneously by two Shamanists, similar to the way you and Amelia cast it when we fought Kopii Rezo. Anyway, after a period of time, the two discovered that whenever one was in any kind of danger, the other would have a dream similar to the one you told me about. After they managed to perfect the Ra Tilt enough to where it was successful when only one Shamanist cast it, they did some background research into Astral-based magic, figuring that this connection had something to do with the fact that when the spell is cast it forms a heart-shaped blast. What they found surprised them. Apparently, when a new Astral spell is created by two individuals who cast it simultaneously, it forms a connection between the two spell casters that allows them to sense when the other is in danger. This connection is only created, however, when the spell cast forms a heart, and I have a feeling that that's what happened between you and Amelia."   
"So you're telling me I have some connection with Amelia that allows me to sense when she's in danger?" Zel snorted.   
"Well, if I'm wrong, what other explanation do you have for your dream?" Lina asked sarcastically.   
"Your cooking," Zel quipped, causing Lina to bash him on the head.   
"If you two are finished," Gourry said while gazing at the heap of camp gear he had packed up, "We need to get this stowed away so we can head out."   
"Right," Lina said, stood up, and closed her eyes. Zel watched her as he sensed the rising spell power around her, and wondered just what spell she was preparing to cast.   
"You who loan us power from beyond this world," Lina began to chant, "Open yourself up to me. ASTRAL RIFT!"   
Zel stared, as an area in front of Lina seemed to open up, forming a black void. He stared even harder when Lina began to pitch the tents and backpacks into what appeared to be nothing.   
"What are you doing, Lina?" he asked.   
"I'm stowing away our traveling gear in Astral Space," Lina answered as she and Gourry dumped the last of the bulky gear. "It's a new spell that I created. You know how hard it is to travel when you're lugging around over twenty pounds of gear, right? Well, this new spell opens up a small area inside the Astral Plane, and allows us to store it there. Whenever I need to retrieve something, I cast the spell again and pull it out. It's always there, no matter where we go, and it makes for easier traveling."   
"Yeah, because you're not weighed down with all the treasure you steal from bandit gangs," Gourry teased, as the Astral Rift closed in on itself.   
"I don't hear you complaining," Lina teased back. "Shall we go?"   
"Yes, let's go," Zel answered with a smile.   
"On to Saillune!" Gourry cheered, and the three friends set out. 

------------------------------ 

Next episode: It's been five days on the road, and Lina, Gourry, and Zel finally reach the kingdom of Saillune, only to find a rather nasty shock awaiting them. Amelia wakes up from a rather severe fever, still unable to remember anything other than her name.   
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Sarah Coddle gazed pensively at the young woman's sleeping face, and sighed in relief. Finally, after five days, Amelia's fever had broken and she was sleeping naturally.   
"How is she, Mom?" Daniel asked, poking his head into the guestroom.   
"She's sleeping," Sarah replied with a small smile.   
"Great! Jon's gonna want to know," Daniel grinned, and disappeared.   
Sarah's smile dropped back into a frown as she turned again to the dark haired girl. She knew that her sons didn't think that she was dangerous, but the blood that had covered the dress Amelia had arrived in worried her. If Amelia had committed a crime, then people would be looking for her, and that could create problems for her family. She had almost hoped that the young woman would die of the fever that had wracked her body, but every time her thoughts would go down that path she would bring them back. It wasn't her place to judge someone who couldn't defend themselves. Besides, if what Jon and Dan told her was true, then this child-woman had been provoked into committing the crime in the first place. Even Sarah had seen the deep scratches on her legs, and the dark bruising along her jaw line that had told of being hit several times. Sarah sighed as she wished, not for the first time, that her husband had not been killed fighting off land raiders and leaving her with two fifteen year old sons and one thirteen year old daughter.   
"W-where am I?" a weak voice croaked from the bed, and Sarah moved closer to the edge so that she could get a better look at its occupant.   
"You're in my home," Sarah answered, and found herself under the scrutiny of a pair of blue eyes.   
"Who are you?"   
"I'm Sarah Coddle. I believe you met my sons, Jonathan and Daniel."   
"Oh, so that's where they get those brilliant green eyes," Amelia mumbled. "How did I get here?"   
"My sons and I brought you here when you passed out. You've been here for five days."   
Amelia's eyes widened, and she squeaked, "Five days?!" She then proceeded to try to sit up, but collapsed when her muscles trembled from exhaustion. "What's wrong with me?"   
"You've had an extremely high fever," Sarah explained, while moving to help Amelia to sit up, and piled pillows behind her to help support her. "We thought that we were going to lose you at one time."   
Sarah wasn't able to say any more, because just then Daniel and Jonathan both came barreling through the doorway, Jonathan in the lead.   
"Hi, Amelia! How are you feeling?" Jonathan asked, while moving to peer into her eyes and feel her forehead.   
"Um, very tired and weak," Amelia answered, blinking at him.   
"That's understandable, considering the fever you just shook off. If you could tilt your head forward, I want to see if I can get a look at that bump you had," he said, and parted the hair on the back of her head when she complied. "Excellent! The swelling is almost gone, and the cut has healed over nicely. Okay. Next question, do you remember anything?"   
"I, uh, remember waking up on the river bank," Amelia replied, confused at how fast Jonathan was jumping from subject to subject.   
"Do you remember anything before that?"   
Amelia furrowed her brow, but all she got were fuzzy images that made no sense. "No. I'm sorry."   
"Don't be sorry. It's not uncommon for someone to lose some, if not all, of their memory after a blow to the head. We'll just have to wait and see if your memory comes back. Hopefully, something will help you to remember something. Sometimes all it takes is a little prod in the right place," Jonathan explained.   
"You've been studying, haven't you?" Daniel teased.   
"Of course I have! This is what I want to be, you know."   
"What, an interrogator?" Amelia quipped with a weak smile.   
"No, a doctor," Jon answered.   
"I was teasing. I have a question, though, and I want you to answer honestly," Amelia said.   
The Coddle's exchanged looks before returning their attention to her.   
"Do you -" Amelia swallowed nervously, then continued. "Do you think that I did something horrible that I don't want to remember?"   
"What gives you that idea?" Daniel asked gently.   
"I'm not blind. I saw the blood stains on my dress when I first met you, and I'm fairly certain they weren't mine."   
"It is possible that something happened that you don't want to remember, and that could be hindering the natural recovery rate now that the swelling on your head is down; however, I don't think that you did anything without being provoked. Your other injuries go against the thought that you meant to cause anyone or anything harm."   
Amelia smiled, and opened her mouth to say more, but Sarah stopped her. "Boys, I think you've been talking to Amelia enough when she should be resting. Shoo! shoo!"   
The twins grinned at each other, told Amelia they would see her the next day, and exited the guestroom.   
"I don't mean to be a bother," Amelia said when Sarah returned to her bedside.   
"You're not," Sarah reassured her. "It's just that those two can talk the ears off a mule and question a person until they want to strangle them. And what you need more than anything at this moment is your rest."   
Amelia smiled at the older woman, and snuggled back down underneath her covers. She was asleep within moments.   
Sarah gazed at Amelia's sleeping face, and thought to herself, "No, I don't think you committed a crime. I'm a pretty good judge of character, and you're just too sweet and innocent to have planned on whatever it is you did. Sleep well, Amelia."   
She exited the room, and closed the door softly behind her. Looking up, she saw Jon and Dan standing at the end of the hallway, and motioned for them to go downstairs to the kitchen.   
"She's sleeping again," Sarah said once they all had sat down at the kitchen table.   
"So what do you think, Mom? Are Daniel and I right about her, or are we wrong?" Jonathan asked, knowing that the last obstacle to be passed was their mother's feelings about Amelia.   
"I think she's sincere, and that you two are right about her. She can stay until she gets her memory back, or until someone comes looking for her," Sarah said, and smiled as the boys exchanged grins.   
"It's almost like having Ashly home again. They're about the same age, don't you think?" Daniel asked.   
"They certainly look it," Jonathan replied.   
"Wonder if she'll get into as much trouble as Ashly did," Daniel mused.   
"Oh L-sama, I hope not!" Sarah laughed. "Your father had his hands full with your sister. I'm just glad that you two were well behaved young men."   
"Not always though, huh, Mom?" Jonathan teased.   
"No, you two could get into trouble with the best of them," Sarah agreed with a smile. "Well, if you two will excuse me, I'm going to return to the guestroom and do some mending. You two should head to bed, you've got an early morning coming up."   
"Yes, Mother," the twins chorused, and kissed Sarah good night before heading back upstairs to their rooms. Sarah shook her head, and gathered up a basket that was full of clothing that needed mending. She made her way back up the stairs, and quietly entered the guestroom.   
She had just started on a pair of pants, when a voice asked from the bed, "Would you like some help?"   
"I didn't mean to wake you," Sarah said, startled.   
"You didn't. I was awake before you came in," Amelia answered, watching Sarah from the bed.   
"Well, do you know how to sew?" Sarah asked, moving her chair again so that she was near the bed.   
"I don't know. Only one way to find out," Amelia answered, and maneuvered into a sitting position with Sarah's help.   
"You really should be resting," Sarah said.   
"I know, but my mind won't let me sleep. It keeps running around with so many questions," Amelia explained.   
"What type of questions?" Sarah asked.   
"Well, where do I come from, who I was, and how can I find out the truth?"   
"No wonder you can't sleep," Sarah replied, handing Amelia a pair of socks and a needle and thread, "Those are some pretty tough questions."   
Amelia nodded her head, then stared at the needle and thread she was holding and gave the socks a blank look.   
"Um, Mrs. Coddle?"   
"Please, call me Sarah."   
"Um, Sarah? What do I do with this?" Amelia asked, blushing.   
Sarah smiled at Amelia, and began to teach her the art of mending. 

------------------------------ 

"FINALLY!!!" Lina cried as the city of Saillune came into sight. "I thought we'd never get here."   
"You can say that again. It looks like it's going to storm," Gourry remarked, pointing to some black clouds. "I had forgotten how far away Saillune was."   
"You'd forget your own head if it weren't screwed on tight," Lina teased, causing the blond to blush.   
"Maybe now we can get some answers," Zel said as they approached the city gates. Even though he was sure they were worrying over nothing, a small ball of fear kept twisting his stomach into knots. Judging from the way Lina and Gourry kept looking around, the same thing was happening to them.   
As they came within sight of the palace, everyone visibly relaxed when they saw that the flags weren't flying at half mast, the way they would have been if something bad had happened. However, they tensed up once again when they noticed the increased amount of guards that were lining the palace entrances.   
"What do you think is going on?" Gourry whispered to Lina.   
"I'm not sure. Maybe Phil is just planning some kind of party and wants to make sure that no one interrupts," Lina replied, not sounding like she believed a word of what she just said.   
They had just reached the front steps of the palace when two swords crossed their pathway.   
"Halt! State your names and your business," a stern faced guard ordered.   
The group exchanged looks, then Lina stepped forward and said, "I'm Lina Inverse, and we're friends of the Princess Amelia. We're here to visit her."   
The two guards had exchanged looks when Lina had given her name, then stepped aside, allowing them to enter into the palace. The group was standing in the main foyer when a royal servant walked up to them.   
"If you will follow me. Prince Philionel wants to see you," the servant said with a bow, then led the way through the many halls of the palace until he stopped before large, double doors.   
"Prince Philionel is in the library, just through these doors," he said, and bowed once again before walking down the hallway.   
Lina blinked, shrugged, and pushed open the doors, followed closely by Zel and Gourry as she entered the darkened library.   
"Hello? Phil?" Lina called, looking around.   
"Miss Lina?" Phil's voice came from the vicinity of the large picture windows that lined one side of the library.   
Lina suppressed a shudder when she realized that they were the same windows Amelia had stood in front of when she had thought that her father had been assassinated three years ago. She prayed to whatever deity might be listening that Phil's position wouldn't prove to be prophetic.   
"Yeah, it's Lina, Gourry, and Zel," Lina said as they moved closer to the Crown Prince of Saillune.   
Phil turned to face them, and everyone took a step back. His face was haggard, his eyes were deeply sunken in their sockets, and his skin was stretched so tightly across his bones that they could see the veins beneath the skin. His eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark bruises underneath them that suggested he had been crying for quite a while. There was only one thing that could put Phil into such a state.   
Lina was vaguely aware of Zel's choked off, "No," as she reached out, blinded by tears that she tried to hold back. Gourry was there, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms about her as if he were trying to protect her from the hurt. "Amelia's dead, Amelia's dead," kept echoing through her mind as she clutched at Gourry, trying to absorb his strength.   
"Maybe....maybe you're not too late," Phil said.   
"What?" Lina managed to gasp, not too sure she had heard him correctly and, if she had, she wasn't too sure Phil was sane at this moment.   
"Please, sit down," the Prince said, and sat down himself once the three had complied, with Lina and Gourry taking up the love seat, and Zel taking the seat across from Phil.   
"Explain what you mean, 'maybe you're not too late,'" Zel said, his logic telling his feelings to keep quiet.   
Lina leaned on Gourry, content for the moment to let Zel take the lead. She was still trying to get her own emotions under control, and didn't think she would be very coherent for the next few minutes.   
"I don't know quite how to say this. I don't think the body they brought in is Amelia," Phil said, his voice choking a bit when he said his daughter's name. "but I want you to verify my belief, so that I'm not just a parent who doesn't want to believe that his daughter is dead."   
"What makes you think it's not Amelia?" Lina asked, hope and curiosity helping her to regain control.   
"The people who brought her in said that her entire guard had been slaughtered, but from the way the bodies were laying, they had put up a fight. She was found a few yards away, almost as if she had run from her attackers. She was . . . killed. . . by a single knife thrust to the chest. I had my most trusted medical examiner go over her, and there are no signs of a struggle. There's not another scratch on her other than the knife wound. It's almost as if she just stood there and let them kill her, and that doesn't fit my daughter. We all know that Amelia would have gone down fighting, which means she would have had more wounds and bruising on her body."   
"So you think this body is a fake?" Zel asked.   
"I'm hoping that it is. Only a few of the palace guards and my medical examiner know of the body. The public hasn't been informed yet."   
"Which explains why the flags aren't flying at half-mast," Lina mused.   
"Lina Inverse, is there a way you can tell if the person that is lying in the royal chapel is my daughter or not?" Phil asked, his eyes begging Lina to tell him that she could.   
Lina thought for a few moments, then hit on an idea that just might work. "I don't know if it'll work or not, but it's worth a try," she said out loud. "Please, take us to the body."   
Phil nodded and stood, and lead them through the palace down to the royal chapel, the same place where his coffin had stood three years ago. Zel stood next to his two friends, and gazed at the white coffin that was resting on a pedestal, while flashes of lightning could been seen through the large chapel windows.   
"It begins again," Phil said under his breath, and only Zel, with his sensitive ears, heard him.   
"What begins again?" Zel asked, catching Gourry's and Lina's attention.   
"This storm and I are old friends," Phil said distantly. "You see, it's the anniversary of my wife's death, and it has always stormed on this night."   
"Just a coincidence," Lina shrugged off Phil's words. "Come on, we've got to find out if that's Amelia or not."   
The three made their way up to the coffin and then stopped. Zel took a deep breath, and lifted the lid just as a crack of thunder shook the palace to its foundation.   
"That was a bit melodramatic, don't you think, Zel? Zel?" Lina asked, gazing at her paling friend.   
Zel stared down at Amelia's peaceful features, feeling as if his entire body had gone numb. She was dressed in a long, white gown and her hands were folded across her stomach. She looked like she was sleeping, and he half expected her to open her eyes and smile at him. A small part of his mind was screaming at him, telling him that he should be on his knees with grief, but the logical part of his mind kept insisting that there was a small chance that this might not be the real Amelia.   
"All right, Lina. How can we tell if this is Amelia?" he asked, his voice rough with held back emotions.   
Lina stepped up next to him, and bit her lip. Gourry reached out and took her hand, giving her a little squeeze of encouragement.   
"Ok, Zel, you're the one who's going to have to do this," Lina said.   
"Why is that?" Gourry asked, not willing to look into the coffin for fear he would break down, and Lina didn't need for him to lose his composure.   
"Because if my theory about them being magically connected is true, then Amelia should have a magical signature that is half hers, and half Zel's," Lina explained.   
"What do you mean?" Gourry asked, looking puzzled.   
"What I mean is, since Zel and Amelia mix their Shamanist powers a lot, especially the Ra Tilt, then their magical signatures would have mixed together and formed a new signature. And before you ask, a magical signature is like having your name spelled out with your power. All magic users have one."   
"So, taking your theory into account, I'm to look for a signature that feels like it belongs to me?" Zel asked, not taking his eyes from Amelia's face.   
"Exactly," Lina answered, knowing that Phil was hanging onto every word that passed between them.   
"Ok," Zel said, and reached out, holding his hands palm down an inch from Amelia's still body. Everyone held their breath as he began to glow with magical energy, and even the storm that was raging outside seemed to calm down. After a few seconds, Zel's body relaxed as he let the magical energy go, and he lowered his hands to his sides. "It's not there," he said. "There is absolutely no magical signature whatsoever."   
"That proves it. That's not Amelia," Lina said, breathing out a sigh of relief.   
"How does that prove that that's not my daughter?" Phil asked, hope lighting up his eyes.   
"Because, even if my theory about Amelia and Zel had been wrong, Zel would have been able to pick up on Amelia's original magic signature. It takes a long time for those energies to be released from a body, even after the sorceress' death. It's my guess that that Amelia is nothing more than a copy, and an empty copy at that," Lina said, feeling a relieved smile tug at the corners of her mouth.   
"An empty copy?" Gourry puzzled.   
"Yes. Remember when we fought Copy Rezo?" Lina asked, then sighed when Gourry gave her a confused look. "Never mind. In order to make a perfect copy, you have to copy everything, even the soul and the magic of the person you want to copy. Since this body has no magical signature to speak of, then whoever made the copy wasn't trying to make a perfect copy. They just wanted the body. Check this out," Lina added, and opened the eyes of the body, showing one blue eye, and one pale green eye. "This copy doesn't even have matching eyes."   
"But Copy Rezo had mismatched eyes, and he was as close to a perfect copy as you can get," Zel mused.   
"That's because when Copy opened his eyes, he was already joined with the Demon Beast Zanafar. If I'm remembering correctly, he had one dark green eye that looked normal, and one golden, demon slitted eye," Lina answered.   
"Makes sense. So, what should be done with this body, Phil?" Zel asked, turning to the towering Prince of Saillune, who wasn't paying any attention to them.   
"I wonder, could the sword be the cause of this?" Phil mused out loud.   
"That's certainly a plausible theory," a disembodied voice said, and Xelloss suddenly appeared, sitting in mid air next to the coffin.   
"XELLOSS!" the three friends cried simultaneously, causing the Trickster to giggle.   
"I'd say it's a pretty good bet that the Saillune no Ken is involved with this little incident," Xelloss said.   
"How do you know about the Saillune Sword?!" Phil roared.   
"That's a secret," Xelloss replied, winking and wiggling his finger.   
"I knew it," Lina groaned. "What are you doing here, Xelloss?"   
Xelloss didn't answer. Instead he floated over and peered down at the body, clucking his tongue. "They did a nice job for an empty shell," he remarked, then floated over and stood next to Lina.   
"What is this 'Saillune Sword'?" Gourry asked, trying to keep Lina from attacking the grinning Mazoku general/priest.   
"The Saillune Sword is the protector of the kingdom. It is at the center of the magical barrier that protects this great city from magical attacks," Phil said.   
"Oh, my. That's close to the truth, but not the whole truth," Xelloss said with a grin. "Didn't Ailanthus tell you anything about the Sword's past?"   
"The Guardians weren't allowed to reveal all of the Sword's secrets. They could only tell everything to their successor," Phil answered.   
"What are you talking about?! Who's Ailanthus?!" Lina nearly screamed, her hands pulling on her hair in frustration.   
"Ailanthus was my wife, and Amelia's mother," Phil answered.   
"Ok, so what does she have to do with some sword?" Gourry asked.   
"You must have really kept the sword a secret, for Lina Inverse to not know a thing about it," Xelloss quipped.   
"What's that mean?" Lina demanded.   
Xelloss grinned at the group, and said, "I think it's time for the Legend to be told. Why don't we go somewhere a bit more pleasant?"   
"I thought you liked stuff like this," Lina said, indicating the coffin.   
"Not for the story I'm about to tell," Xelloss replied.   
"Shall we head back to the library?" Zel suggested while closing the coffin lid once again.   
"Yes, let's. And I'll have that body removed," Phil replied as everyone began to file out of the chapel.   
Once they were back in the library, everyone took the same seats they had had before. Xelloss, being observant as always, remarked, "You and Gourry seem to be a little closer than usual, Lina."   
"That's because we're engaged," Lina replied with a small smile.   
"Well, well! Let me offer you my congratulations!" Xelloss cried with a grin, then echoed Zel's earlier words, "Certainly took you two long enough."   
"Congratulations, Lina Inverse!" Phil cried, and gave the petite redhead a bone crushing hug.   
"GAK!" Lina cried as she felt the air leave her lungs. Phil returned her to her seat next to Gourry and proceeded to break every bone in Gourry's hand while trying to force Gourry's spine through his back with some hefty back pounding Once he had suceeded in congratulating the blonde swordsman, he sat back down himself.   
"Now, Mr. Xelloss," Phil said, leaning back in his chair. "I think it is time for this Legend to be told. Especially since my daughter is involved with it."   
"One of the biggest questions we have is where Amelia is at this moment. I honestly hope that she's not a prisoner in Diolon, but since we have her copy, that is what's most likely," Lina mused out loud.   
"You're right," Phil said, looking downcast.   
"Why don't you ask Ailanthus about the whereabouts of her daughter?" Xelloss suggested to Phil.   
"Now there's an idea!" Phil said, and jumped up, only to be stopped by Gourry remarking, "I thought Amelia's mother was dead."   
"Please, Your Highness," Xelloss said with a small sigh, "Sit down. In order for all of this to make any sense, the Legend must be told. Otherwise, your daughter could be in even greater danger than what she already is."   
Phil sat back down with a thump, and Xelloss took a deep breath. 

---------------------- 

Next episode: It's Xelloss' turn to tell a story! What is the legend of the Saillune Sword? How will the Slayers be able to talk to a woman who's been dead for thirteen years?   
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

"I know that you're familiar with the Philosopher's Stone," Xelloss began, "But do you know how the Stone was created?"   
"I know that it was supposed to be a part of the Staff of the Gods, but I couldn't find any more information on it," Lina answered, and her eyes lit up. "You're going to tell how the Stone was created?!"   
"Yes, because its creation was at the same time the Saillune Sword was created, only it wasn't known by that name at that time."   
"Cut to the chase, Xelloss. You're stalling," Lina said, impatient.   
"Now, now, Lina, you know that a good story can't be rushed," Xelloss said with a wink, causing Lina to snort.   
"Just get on with it," Zel growled, not really thrilled with the Trickster's presence.   
"When the Lord of Nightmares first created this world, she thrust a great staff through it. She then set the powers of Lord Shabranigdo and Ceified loose, and sat back to watch the fun. What L-sama wasn't expecting, however, was for the battle to get out of control, which is exactly what happened. Shabranigdo and Ceified's battle began to affect the balance of the world, and the few humans who lived during these times were frightened for their lives."   
"Well, they should have been!" Lina remarked, earning a dirty look from Xelloss.   
"These two awesome powers ran amok for several hundred years, and then began to threaten the Staff, which was the support for the entire world. Before L-sama could intervene, a blast from these two powers impacted against the Staff and two chunks were broken off. One became the Philosopher's Stone, which L- sama sealed away in an Orihalcon Statue because she knew that it would cause trouble for the world if it was unleashed; however, the second chunk proved to be more troubling, due to the size and sheer amplification magnitude it possessed. To give you an idea of just how high I'm talking about, take the Philosopher's Stone, and multiply it's magical amplification powers by over a million, and you'll come close. HOWEVER," Xelloss added as Lina's eyes lit up and she began to drool slightly, "L-sama took this chunk, and altered it slightly. You see, L-sama knew that if a human obtained this chunk, even one who had very little magical ability but had evil intentions, then the entire world could be destroyed. So, L-sama programed this chunk so that it could only be used by one person, and one person only. She then searched the humans of the world until she came to a young warrior maiden named Aspen.   
Aspen was a renowned fighter, both in the magical arts and with a sword, and she had the purest heart of all the humans that were living during that time. L-sama gave the shard to Aspen, and instructed her to watch over it and only use it when it was needed. A strange thing happened when Aspen touched the shard. It changed form, from that of a huge chunk of rock to a medium sized double-bladed broadsword. Aspen made a vow to L-sama, saying that she would do as L-sama instructed, and use the sword to protect those around her. It's because of Aspen and the Sword that there are humans around today. She used the Sword to protect the rest of the human population, which was an easy task at that time because it was so small. Over time, Aspen was given the title of Guardian of the Sword, and once Lord Shabranigdo was split up, she founded a small town that came underneath the Sword's barrier, which protected the town from magical attacks. Aspen eventually married, and had two children of her own. As time passed, she came to realize that she had not been given immortality along with Guardianship, and worried about what would become of the Sword should she die. The Sword answered for her, and Chose her young daughter as Aspen's successor..."   
"Chose? How did it Choose?" Lina asked, interrupting Xelloss.   
Xelloss gave her a dirty look, and said, "I think it sings. Anyway, Aspen began to train her daughter in the art of swordplay, and when the child turned fifteen, Aspen turned Guardianship over to her daughter, Janelle. Not much is known about the Second Guardian, just that she never married, nor did she have children."   
"Then how did the Guardianship get passed down if she didn't have any children?" Lina asked.   
"The Sword would Choose its next Guardian, Lina. I have no other explanation as to how this was accomplished. The Sword became known as Aramina, and the town that Aspen founded began to grow in size, and eventually became the Saillune Kingdom that we know today. Aramina continued to protect the kingdom, and over time became known as the Saillune no Ken, or the Saillune Sword."   
"But what does this have to do with Amelia?" Zel asked.   
"Need you ask? Amelia's the next Chosen One. Her mother, Ailanthus, was the last Guardian to hold the Sword," Xelloss answered.   
"WHAT?!" everyone but Phil yelled, their eyes so wide that they resembled dinner plates.   
"It's true," Phil said with a sigh. "Ailanthus was to pass the Guardianship over to Amelia when she had completed her training in both swordsmanship and the magical arts; however, circumstances beyond my wife's control prevented her from passing on the Guardianship."   
"What are you talking about?" Lina asked, still reeling from all the information she had just heard.   
"Ailanthus was forced to invoke the Dormancy spell on the Sword. This spell returns the Sword to its stone state, where it is pretty much useless except as a protection shield generator. It will not awake again until the Princess claims her place among the other Guardians," Xelloss explained.   
"What's this Dormancy spell thing?" Gourry asked.   
"It's a spell that's been programed into the Sword that only the Guardians know. You see, even though no one but the Guardian can use the Sword, the Sword can be controlled through the Guardian," Xelloss said.   
"Huh?" Gourry asked, scratching his head.   
Lina sighed, and said, "If someone wanted to use the Sword for some evil purpose, and they're powerful enough, they can slap a mind control spell on the Guardian, and basically use them like puppets."   
"Oh, and this will allow them to gain control of the Sword! I get it!" Gourry said with a grin.   
"Exactly. Only, the person you want to control has to be weak willed, otherwise you can only control them for short periods of time. Guardian's have some of the strongest wills of all, and though many have tried, no one has succeeded in controlling a Guardian until Ailanthus," Xelloss said.   
"What do you mean?" Zel asked.   
"My wife was in the nursery with Amelia thirteen years ago when the castle came under the attack of a rogue army, that was led by a Mazoku. This Mazoku was one of the strongest we've ever seen, and he wanted Ailanthus to pass the Guardianship over to Amelia, who was five years old at that time. Children are easily controlled, and with Amelia holding the Guardianship, the Mazoku would then be able to control the Sword. He had Ailanthus underneath a temporary mind control, but somehow she managed to break it just before handing the Sword to Amelia. She had no other choice. She...," Phil broke off as his voice cracked, and turned away from the group.   
"She managed to chant the Dormancy spell, but the Mazoku knew what she was doing, and began to rebuild his control spell. With no other options open to her, and help busy elsewhere, Ailanthus buried the sword in her own body, and managed to finish the spell as she died," Xelloss finished.   
"Amelia saw this, didn't she?" Gourry asked, his eyes showing shock and concern for the young child his friend had once been.   
"She did," Phil answered, "And went completely hysterical. When we finally got to the nursery, the Sword had vanished, and with it my wife's body. Amelia came down with a severe fever, and after a week of worry, she pulled through, but she had forgotten everything that had taken place at the time of Ailanthus death. She also refused to touch swords, so we had to teach her swordplay through a series of deceptions. She never realized that some of the games she played were a preparation for the day she would claim the Sword. This mission up to Diolon was to be her final test before she was given Guardianship, and told the truth of her mother's death."   
"This Mazoku, who is he?" Lina asked.   
"A very dangerous one," Xelloss answered, opening his eyes. "He is the son of Hell Master Phibritzo. He is not affiliated with any of the other Dark Lords, and is more powerful than even myself. He is a rogue, against everyone, even his own kind. I have been ordered to kill him, but even Beast Master now realizes that is a fruitless request. He will do anything to obtain the Sword, and through the Sword destroy the Lord of Nightmares, for it was She who destroyed his father three years ago. He goes by the name of Ryo."   
"Another wonderful family feud, and we're stuck right in the middle," Lina grumbled.   
"How is it you know so much about all this, Xelloss?" Zel demanded, eyeing the Trickster with mistrust.   
Xelloss giggled, and held up one finger, saying, "That's a secret."   
"One of these days, we're going to strap you down and cut the answers out of you," Lina sighed, exasperated.   
"Oooo, sounds like fun!" Xelloss giggled.   
"That still doesn't answer my question as to how we're going to ask a dead woman about the whereabouts of Amelia," Lina growled, ignoring the giggling Mazoku.   
"Four years ago, while we were renovating an old portion of the palace, we found a secret passageway behind an old tapestry. At the end of the passageway was a room, and in that room we found the Dormant Sword. The rest, I think I'll allow Aila to explain to you," Phil answered, and stood, followed closely by the others.   
As they followed Phil through the twisting hallways of the palace, Lina glanced at Xelloss.   
"You seem to know an awful lot about this Sword," she said.   
"Of course. All of my kind know about the Sword," Xelloss replied, keeping his voice low so that Phil couldn't hear him.   
"Has the Sword always been in the Royal Family?" Gourry asked.   
"No," Phil answered. "Aila is the first in the Saillune Family to be a Guardian, and that's only because she married me."   
"So how did the Sword's name get changed? Didn't the Guardians move around a lot?" Gourry asked.   
"They did, but they always wound up returning to Saillune after a short absence and, even when they were traveling, the Sword still managed to keep the protective field up around the kingdom," Xelloss answered.   
"How is it you know all these details about Amelia's mother?" Zel asked, looking back at the Trickster.   
"Ailanthus and I are old friends," Xelloss answered, and giggled when Lina and company came to a halt, and stared at him.   
"You're kidding!" Lina cried.   
"Not at all," Xelloss replied, and walked past them.   
"This just gets weirder and weirder," Lina muttered to herself.   
"Guess we're in trouble again, huh, Lina?" Gourry asked, not looking too happy with his observation.   
"You guessed right, Gourry," Lina replied with a sigh.   
"What I don't understand," Gourry continued, "Is how this guy can be more powerful than Xelloss when he's not working for another Dark Lord."   
"Ryo is the son of the Hell Master, and when Hell Master was killed, all his power went to his son. However, Ryo refused to become a Dark Lord, nor did he agree to work underneath one. So basically we have a rogue Dark Lord out there, who's not a Dark Lord," Xelloss replied.   
"In other words, he's got a lot of power, is on the loose, and there's no one who can stop him, right?" Gourry asked.   
"Right," Xelloss replied. "Are you three going to stand there all day, or are you going to continue on towards the Sword Room?"   
Lina and the others exchanged looks, then started walking again. The group walked in silence for a few moments as Phil continued to lead them through twisting passageways and down steep stairs.   
Lina finally lost her patience, and demanded, "Just how far away is the stupid room?! We've been walking for hours, and if we continue to go down we're going to wind up coming out on the other side of the world!!"   
"It's not much farther," Phil replied. "The Room is located in the heart of Saillune. That's why the magical field surrounding the city is so strong."   
"Figures," Lina muttered.   
Several more minutes passed, and Lina opened her mouth to complain some more, when Phil came to a halt in front of a large, stone wall.   
"Oh, great! A dead end!" Lina wailed. "What did you do, take a wrong turn?!"   
"Not at all," Phil replied, and placed his hand against the wall, which began to glow. After a few moments, the wall stopped glowing, and slowly began to rise above the floor, revealing another passageway behind it. "I had this door installed when we discovered the Sword down here, and it's magically locked so that only the Royal Family will be able to open it. This insures that no one will accidently find their way down here beyond this point."   
"Makes sense," Lina replied as they walked through the now open doorway.   
"Look, is that light up ahead?" Gourry asked.   
"Yes, and I can detect a very strong magical presence," Zel replied as they moved towards the source of the light.   
The group stepped through another doorway, and found themselves in a large, circular room. In the center of the room was a large stand, and on top of the stand was a rock shard that was half the length of Xelloss' staff, and as thick as one of Phil's arms. The shard was bathed in a serene, white light, and was the only source of light in the entire room.   
"That's the Sword?" Lina asked.   
"Yes, this is the Sword in its Dormancy state," Phil answered, stepping further into the room, coming to a halt roughly five feet from the foot of the stand. He gazed at the glowing shard for a moment, then held out his hands, and said, "Guardian Ailanthus, we request your assistance."   
For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, the shard began to glow brighter and brighter, almost blinding Lina and the others with the intensity of its light. Slowly, the light began to die down as a small, golden sphere rose up from the surface of the shard and came to rest in front of the stand. The sphere began to grow in size and took on the form of a human. The gold light seemed to liquify, then melted off to reveal a small young woman.   
"That's your wife?!" Lina asked, her eyes wide.   
"Wow, she's shorter than Lina!" Gourry cried, earning a fist to the head from said petite sorceress. "Ouch."   
Lina rubbed her hand while eyeing the woman who stood with her head bowed, as if she wanted to orient herself to her surroundings. Gourry was right. Ailanthus stood a good inch and a half shorter than Lina, though Lina could definitely tell where Amelia got her figure from. Long, pale lavender hair hung in a braid over Ailanthus shoulder, just barely scraping the floor with its tip. As Ailanthus raised her head, Lina did a double take. For a moment she had thought she was looking at Amelia. Except for the hair color and warm brown eyes, Ailanthus was a dead ringer for Amelia, and Lina finally saw who Amelia got her looks from. Ailanthus was practically identical to Amelia, from her heart shaped face to the large, expressiveness of her eyes. She was dressed in an outfit that was loose and flowing, but wouldn't get in the way if she were forced to make any sudden moves. It was the type of outfit one wore when one was expected to fight often.   
"At least we now know who Amelia looks like," Gourry quipped.   
"It's true, Amelia always did look more like Ailanthus than myself," Phil replied, his blue eyes filled with an indescribable emotion.   
Lina watched as Ailanthus's warm brown eyes roamed over the group of people that had collected in the room, and then her eyes fell upon Phil. With a happy cry, the small woman ran over to the man who literally towered over her, and threw herself into his arms.   
"Aila," Phil murmured as he gently brushed a hand across the back of her head, and the group could tell that he was trying very hard to keep his control as he sat her back onto her feet, and she stepped away from him.   
"I can only guess," Ailanthus said, her soothing voice making everyone in the room relax, "That there is some emergency. Otherwise, you would have never broken your promise to me, Phil."   
"You're right, Aila," Phil answered.   
"Wait a second!" Lina cried, catching everyone's attention. "How are we able to talk to her?!!"   
Ailanthus smiled at the small redhead, her entire face appearing to light up. "You must be Lina Inverse. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."   
"How do you know who I am?!" Lina nearly screamed, prompting Gourry to gather her up in a huge bear hug.   
"Calm down, Lina. I'm sure that she'll answer our questions if we're patient," Gourry said, trying to keep the steaming redhead from completely blowing her top.   
Ailanthus giggled, and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Gourry Gabriev. Zelgadis Greywyrs, I bid you welcome. And well met, General/Priest Xelloss. It's been awhile."   
"Indeed, it has been awhile, Guardian Ailanthus," Xelloss replied, smiling in an odd way.   
Ailanthus gracefully inclined her head, and said to Gourry with a sly grin, "You can let her go unless you don't want to."   
Both Lina and Gourry turned bright red as Gourry released Lina, but neither made a move to step away from the other, prompting Ailanthus to smile again.   
"Ah, I see you two have come to a conclusion about your feelings for each other. Good. That fact will help you on the journey that you will be taking."   
"You know, you're starting to sound like Xelloss, saying things without giving away their meaning," Lina said, exasperated.   
Ailanthus giggled again, and replied, "I know. It's a lot of fun. In answer to one of your un asked questions, yes, Amelia is still alive. However, I cannot tell you her location. There is something that is blocking the Guardian/Chosen Bond that exists between all Guardians and their Chosen successors."   
"Which means that we're going to have to do a search," Zel mused.   
"Indeed. Also, the Sword of Light shall be needed on this journey, and Gourry and Lina must retrieve it before it can begin," Ailanthus said.   
"You can see the future?!" Lina asked at the same time Gourry asked, "How am I supposed to retrieve the Sword of Light?!"   
"One at a time, please!" Ailanthus laughed, and sat down crosslegged on the stone floor, indicating that the others should make themselves comfortable as well. "Let's start with you, Lina. I shall try to answer any and all questions that you have."   
Lina opened her mouth, and began. 

------------------------------------- 

Next episode: Question and Answer time! What will Ailanthus reveal, and what will the Slayers Gang learn?   
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

"Ok, first thing I want to know is how we're talking to you right now. You're not a ghost," Lina said, then blushed a bit.   
"I knew that one was coming," Gourry muttered to himself.   
"I exist with the other Guardians inside the Sword," Ailanthus answered, and smiled at Lina's confused look. "I guess you could say that the Sword exists on another Plane that is completely different from this one, and because Guardians have such long and highly exposed contact with the Sword, we get sucked in when we die. When our assistance is requested or needed, we're allowed to break through the   
barrier that separates us from this Plane. We're also allowed to keep a constant contact with the other Guardians through the Bond we all share. It's kind of like an afterlife that only Guardians can go to."   
"How do you know who we are?" Lina asked.   
"I know who you are through my link with my daughter, Amelia. Also, the Guardians are well aware of who Lina Inverse is. We keep a close eye on the Mazoku race, even though there is not much we can do by way of helping unless the Sword is active," Aila answered.   
"Okay. My final question, for now, is...can you see the future? You mentioned that Gourry and I would need the emotions that we've recognized, but how can you tell that unless you can see the future?"   
"I cannot see the total future, I can only get glimpses and images from time to time. It's not a complete picture, if you will. It's also a power I am thankful to say I did not pass down to either one of my daughters. Also, the future is not set in stone. Any little action that you perform today can have an impressive impact on the events of tomorrow."   
"What do you see for us that was so important you had to mention it?" Lina wondered.   
"You and Gourry must believe in your love for each other, for strong foes will seek to turn your feelings against each other. This journey will prove to be difficult, but if you believe in each other, you shall return victorious," Aila said, then turned and looked at Zel, who started a bit. "You will be forced to make a choice sometime in the future, but I do not know what type of choice it will be."   
"Well, since you just answered one of my questions, in a way, I guess I should continue with the rest of my questions," the chimera mused, sending Ailanthus into a fit of giggles.   
"My, you are a serious one, aren't you?" she asked, causing Zel to blush as he remembered similar words spoken by Amelia several years ago.   
"You said that all the Guardians exist inside the sword when they die, which means that the Guardians of the past are in there as well. Am I correct?" Zel asked, and continued when Aila nodded. "I would like to know if any of them know any spells or methods that can help me cure my body."   
"Oh, we can think of much more things to do with your body instead of curing it," a disembodied voice said, causing everyone except Ailanthus to jump, startled. Another golden sphere detached itself from the Sword, and slowly became a tall, young woman with short, stylish dark green hair and laughing hazel eyes.   
"You sure know how to make an entrance, Aspen, you know that?" Ailanthus grumped, earning an amused look from the woman.   
"Well, when you've been out of the mainstream as long as I have, you tend to want to cause a commotion when you appear. However, I am here for several reasons, and each one is as important as the next. First up, Prince Phil, the storm has ceased and you are needed above ground due to some damage the high winds caused. You also know that you shouldn't be down here, because of the danger factors that are involved," Aspen said.   
Phil sighed, but said, "You are correct, Guardian Aspen."   
Ailanthus lept to her feet, and flung herself into Phil's arms, hugging him around the neck and whispering in his ear. Phil replied in low tones, kissed her gently on her cheek, and walked out of the room, sealing it as he left.   
"Why is it dangerous for Phil to stay?" Gourry asked, confused.   
"The Saillune Sword contains a high level of magical power, and only those who are familiar with the use of magic or been in contact with a magical artifact can safely stay in its presence for any given length of time. If someone who had no magical capacity, such as Phil, stayed any longer this close to the Sword, the magical power would slowly eat away at him, and eventually kill him. That was the basis for the promise Phil made to me when he first found this room, because he didn't want to leave after discovering he could summon me," Ailanthus explained.   
"What about me, can I be hurt by it?" Gourry asked.   
"No, because you were the bearer of the Sword of Light for most of your life, which, although inferior to the Sword, has a high magical content as well. Over time you absorbed much of the residue energy, rendering you immune to the powers of the Sword," Xelloss replied for the Guardians.   
"Studied up, have you?" Aila grinned at the Trickster.   
"Always," came the reply.   
"So," Aila asked, looking at Aspen, "What's the other reason you're here?"   
"To make sure that you don't say more than you should," Aspen said seriously, causing Aila to snort.   
"Look who's talking. If I remember correctly, you're the one who wanted to stuff all the previous Guardians' knowledge down my throat in a single night when I was first Chosen," Aila retorted.   
"Ailanthus, one million three hundred and five; Aspen, one million three hundred and three," a laughing voice commented from the vicinity of the sword, causing both Aspen and Aila to hide their faces in their hands.   
"I wish you guys wouldn't do that," Aila muttered, to which several different voices could be heard laughing from the Sword.   
"Anyway," Aspen said, trying to ignore the laughing Guardians, "You want a cure for your body? No offense, but you're really cute the way you are."   
Zel blushed a bright red, and stuttered something while Aspen winked at him.   
"Aspen.....," Aila said, giving her a warning glance.   
"Oh, I see," Aspen replied, taking a closer look at Zel. "Hmmm, interesting bond, that. Didn't think it still existed. In answer to your question, Zelgadis, a spell does exist that can help you turn your body back to normal. But," she added when Zel's face lit up, "We don't know the location of the spell." Zel felt his heart plummet at those words, but just the knowledge that the spell actually existed helped to pick his spirits back up, because surely he'd find it...eventually.   
When it didn't look like Zel or Lina were going to ask any more questions, Gourry piped up and said, "You said that I would need the Sword of Light for this journey. How am I supposed to retrieve it? Some otherworlders took the sword back to where it came from."   
"Yes, and you won't be able to retrieve it from there, either. You and Lina must travel back to your homeland. Once there, you'll meet up with an old sage who's a friend of the Guardians. Tell him that Guardian Ailanthus sent you, and you must borrow the Sword of Light. He'll understand and know what to do," Aila answered.   
"Oh, ok," Gourry replied, satisfied.   
"Zelgadis, do you know how to ride a horse?" Aila asked, throwing everyone off balance.   
"Um, no, not really," the chimera answered, blinking. "Why do you ask?"   
"Since the three of you will be looking for my daughter, it's only logical that you would follow the exact same course that she did to reach the Diolon Kingdom. You will also be looking for clues as to her whereabouts, and the best way to do that is from horseback, where you can get off to inspect the ground. I know that flying would be faster, but riding is much more practical," Aila answered.   
"She's right. I was just getting ready to suggest that method of transportation," Lina chipped in.   
"Since you won't be going with Lina and Gourry on their trip to retrieve the Sword of Light," Aila continued, "I want you to practice riding so that you'll feel more comfortable in the saddle."   
"Why am I not going with Lina and Gourry?" Zel asked, not too happy with the idea of sitting on a horse.   
"Because this is a mission that only they can accomplish, and they will not be needing your help. You wouldn't be able to reach the place they must go, anyway, because the spell that will be used will only allow two people at a time to pass through," Aila answered.   
Zelgadis sighed, but he knew that arguing would get him nowhere, so he nodded his head.   
"What about Gourry?" Lina wondered.   
"What about me?" Gourry asked.   
"Do you know how to ride a horse?"   
"Sure. I practically grew up on horseback," Gourry answered with a grin. "It teaches great balancing techniques; plus, it's a great way to get around. We can't all fly like you and Zel can."   
"Oh," Lina replied, looking a little startled.   
"Well, I'd love to answer any more questions that you may have," Aila said, "but we really must get started. Lina, Gourry, in order to save time, Aspen and I are going to do a teleportation spell that will drop you off in Gourry's homeland."   
"What? You mean I'm not even going to get a chance to eat?!" Lina demanded.   
"Ask the sage to feed you when you get there," Aila answered calmly.   
Lina sighed in resignation, as she and Gourry got to their feet and clasped hands.   
"What exactly do you want us to do?" Lina asked.   
"Just stand there," Aila replied, and held out her hands to Aspen, who took them, and they both closed their eyes. Aspen began to mutter a spell underneath her breath, but Lina wasn't able to make out her words. Zel, whose hearing was better, couldn't understand the language, but whatever it was, it was working. The Sword began to give off a white glow, while Lina and Gourry appeared fainter and fainter until they vanished all together. Only then did the two Gaurdians unclasp hands and open their eyes.   
"Where are they now?" Zel asked.   
"Gourry's Homeland. Mipross Island," Aila answered, then giggled. "Bet Lina's getting the surprise of her life."   
"Not until tomorrow. I added a sleep spell into the teleportation spell so that they would be asleep when they arrived. It'll help the sage to find them," Aspen added.   
"Makes sense. Well, Zelgadis, do you have anything else you would like to ask?" Aila asked the chimera, who shook his head. "Very well. Our time here is almost up, anyway, so I wouldn't have been able to answer them. During your stay in our palace, I hope that you'll feel free enough to explore any part that you wish. You are more than welcome here."   
"Thank you, Guardian Ailanthus. Thank you, too, Guardian Aspen, for taking the time to answer our questions," Zel said, bowing slightly.   
"Oh, you're more than welcome. It's not everyday that three handsome men such as you, Gourry, and Xelloss over there come down here to visit," Aspen laughed, causing Zel to blush yet again, and he beat a hasty retreat through the doorway that Aila reopened for him. Aila shook her head at the giggling Aspen, and said, "You're impossible. You'd think after all these years, that you would at least no longer flirt. You're married, for crying out loud!"   
"I just wonder which one of us is the elder, me by years, or you by the way you act. Anyway, I'm glad that Xelloss is still here," Aspen said, turning to the Trickster.   
"Oh?" Xelloss asked, raising an eyebrow.   
"Xelloss, just what is your purpose here?" Aspen asked the Trickster. "Does Beast Master have some secret plan, or are you just here to observe?"   
"I'm just an observer and informant for this little adventure," Xelloss replied with a wink. "Beast Master also sends her regards, and said to tell you, Aila, that she still considers you, 'Quite possibly the sweetest girl I've ever met, and the most stubborn.'"   
"Well, I was allergic to her cigarette smoke," Aila muttered.   
"Yes, but you also managed to get her to quit for up to a week while you visited, you know."   
"Really? Wow, guess I did have an influence, after all. Next time you see her, tell her that I said hello, please," Aila smiled.   
Xelloss smiled down at the small woman. "I'll do that," he said softly, then frowned as Aila's body began to fade like Lina's and Gourry's had earlier.   
"Looks like our time's up," Aspen muttered.   
Xelloss leaned down, and gently kissed the cheek of the fading Guardian. "Take care of yourself, Aila," he said, and vanished.   
Aila gazed at the floor for a moment, then looked up when she felt Aspen's hand on her shoulder.   
"You all right?"   
"I'll be fine," Aila answered. "I just really miss Phil and everyone. I still love him, you know."   
"I know. I still love my husband, and he's been dead for thousands of years. Time does help, though," Aspen said.   
"I know. In all honesty, though, Amelia has me worried the most. I wish I could locate her, but.....," Aila trailed off.   
"But something is keeping you from it. I know how worried you are, Aila, but you have to leave this in the hands of the living."   
"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier," Aila replied, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "All I ever wanted from life was to watch my daughters grow up, and grow old with my husband."   
"Look, Aila, we've been over this before. I remember that you once told Phil he had a duty to his kingdom that came before his own wants and wishes, and you had a duty to the people of the world that would come before your wants and wishes. It's a duty that all of the Guardians have upheld, and you have never disappointed us. Now, before this can get any more sappy, I want to know something. What are you planning on doing with Zelgadis?"   
"Zel desperately needs to see himself through another's eyes, but that's one of the hardest things a person can do," Aila answered.   
"You're planning on influencing his dreams, aren't you? So that he'll feel compelled to go to Amelia's room and find her studio?" Aspen guessed.   
"You've got it. If you ever get a chance, and if Amelia assumes her Guardianship, ask her to show you some of her paintings. I've only seen them through flashes that she gets in her dreams, and they look wonderful," Aila answered, beaming proudly.   
"You always were a tricky one," Aspen giggled as her body vanished back into the sword.   
"I learned from the best," Aila replied, as she, too, was drawn into the sword, the only sound remaining in the small room that of her laughter, and the only sight of her sorrow a small wet drop on the stone floor, which soon evaporated and vanished. 

----------------------- 

Next episode: Zel has even more strange dreams, and Lina meets up with an old friend.   
Lina: AHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I NEVER REALIZED THIS!!!   
Gourry: Calm down.   
Rowdy: Why, hello again, Lina Inverse!   
Also, welcome back Ryo and Nick!   
  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Zel found himself with his arms wrapped around Lina, gazing into her upturned and smiling face. Zel smiled back a her, tightening his hold on the small sorceress.   
"Thanks, Zel!" Lina cried, before untangling herself from the chimera and stepping away from him. "I'm very happy with Gourry."   
Zel stared at Lina's smiling face, feeling as if his entire world had come crashing down upon him.   
"But Lina, I thought...," he trailed off.   
"You thought you were in love with me, didn't you?" Lina asked him, still smiling.   
"Well, um," Zel stammered, causing Lina to giggle.   
"Surely you know that my heart has always been with Gourry, Zel. Besides, there's someone else who cares very much for you, and whom you care for, as well. You just haven't listened to your heart yet," Lina replied, and then everything went black for a few seconds, before Zel suddenly found himself standing in a large open space with huge shade trees. One tree in particular drew Zel's attention, because it looked like there was a swing hanging from a branch with a person sitting in it.   
Figuring he had nothing else to do, Zel walked towards the person on the swing, hoping that they would be able to tell him where he was. The last person he expected to see was Amelia pushing herself back and forth gently with her foot, humming a little tune underneath her breath. She was dressed in a long, formal, off-the-shoulders dress that was a charming light green shade, and a gentle smile graced her features as she gazed off into the distance.   
"Amelia?" Zel asked, not sure what to make of the princess. Amelia turned and looked at him, and her smile became much larger, causing her face to light up with happiness. She stood up from the swing and began to walk towards him, only stopping when she was a good arm's length away. She continued to smile up at him, not saying anything.   
"Amelia, what are you doing here?" Zel asked the smiling princess. Amelia giggled, winked, and held up one finger. Zel watched as her features suddenly melted away and reformed as Xelloss, who replied, "That's a secret."   
Before Zel could say anything, Xelloss appeared to freeze in place, and the entire area suddenly became silent as another person walked up behind Zel.   
"You're certainly a troubled one," a familiar voice said, and Aila stepped around Zel to peer at the Xelloss statue. "Not only that, but you're allowing your head to override your heart," she added, then gently blew on the Xelloss statue, which turned into a pile of fine dust and floated away. "Confusion can be a terrible thing, but the most terrible is not acknowledging the truth that your heart is trying to tell you. Of course, matters of the heart can be confusing in and of themselves; but, hopefully, you won't take too long in sorting it all out."   
"What are you talking about?" Zel asked the small woman, who smiled up at him.   
"Why, I'm talking about Lina and my daughter, of course."   
"Amelia and I are friends, and that's all there is to it," Zel said vehemently.   
"That's something you have to figure out yourself," Aila said, not really replying to Zel's comment.   
"What are you talking about?!!!" Zel asked again, feeling as if he were being played with, and hating that.   
"Have you ever really examined your feelings for Lina Inverse?" Aila asked directly. "Have you ever really thought that maybe you didn't really feel about her the way you think you do? The way your head keeps telling you that your heart feels?"   
Zel blinked at Aila, not really sure how to answer.   
"I thought not," Aila sighed. "You won't remember this when you wake up, but I want you to find Amelia's room. Behind one of her book shelves you'll find a hidden door. I want you to have a good look at the contents of that room."   
Before Zel could reply, Aila vanished, and his line of vision went dark.   
Zel groaned and opened his eyes, staring around him in confusion for a few moments while the sounds of birds waking up reached his ears. He blinked a few times, then remembered he was in one of the guest rooms of the palace and he was supposed to start learning how to ride a horse later on that day. Something tickled the back of his mind, but when he tried to grasp the errant thought to examine it further, it slipped through his fingers and flitted off. He felt like there was something he needed to remember, a dream he had had the night before, but he couldn't think of what it was. Most likely he had dreamed about the day Rezo had turned him into a chimera; and, if that was the case, he didn't mind not remembering it one bit.   
"I wonder if Phil would mind if I used the library," Zel mused out loud as he swung himself up and out of the bed, then paused as he remembered Lina's reply to his question if she were happy.   
"Yes, Zel, I'm very happy," Lina had said, smiling.   
Zel sighed, and wished again, not for the first time, that he had met Lina first instead of Gourry. His brow furrowed when an image of Amelia's smiling face flashed through his mind. He couldn't understand why thoughts of the princess kept popping up out of nowhere. Sure, he was worried about her like everyone else, but why did she always have to intrude whenever he began to think of Lina? Zel continued to try to figure out his muddled emotions while he got dressed, then began to wander around the palace in search of the library. He found Prince Phil instead.   
"Ah, Mr. Zelgadis, good morning," the giant of a man greeted the stunned chimera with a rather hefty pat to the back, signaling that Phil was in better spirits after their talk with Ailanthus the night before.   
"Good morning," Zel replied once he got his wind back, wondering if his spine was still intact.   
"Where are you off to today, other than your riding lesson? Aila contacted me and told me that I was to only allow you to ride the best horse we have," Phil said cheerfully, and Zel groaned under his breath.   
"I was wondering if you would mind it if I looked around your library some before I'm to ride," Zel asked, replacing "to ride" with "to be tortured" in his mind.   
"Of course I don't mind! Feel free to explore the palace and the grounds as much as you like. While you're a guest here, you're to treat it like your home," Phil replied, patting, more like pounding, the chimera on his back some more before moving off, leaving a twitching blue chimera behind him.   
"How does Amelia survive all those bear hugs and back pats that he gives?" Zel wondered, deciding that the small princess was much stronger than she actually looked.   
Zel was suddenly overcome with an almost unbearable desire to see Amelia's room, and he staggered because it took him off guard. He shook his head, and managed to force those feelings down.   
"Now why would I want to see Amelia's room?" he wondered to himself as he continued on his way to finding the Royal Library, occasionally having to stop to stomp down more feelings of wanting to see Amelia's room. Once Zel made it into the library, all thoughts of seeing Amelia's room left his head as he plunged into the thousands of books that lined the walls of the library. He was completely unaware of the passage of time until a livered servant tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him out of his book-induced haze with a start.   
"I was told to inform you, Mr. Greywyrs, that it is time for your first riding lesson," the poker-faced man said. Zel made a face, but shut the book he was reading and replaced it on the shelf. He then followed the servant out of the palace and to the Royal Stables, which looked like a completely separate palace in and of itself.   
"He keeps his horses there?!" Zel asked, staring at the glittering jewel that was supposed to be the stables.   
"Yes sir, he does," the servant responded, before saying, "If you'll wait here, HorseMaster Josh will be with you momentarily with your steed."   
Zelgadis watched as the servant walked away, and wished with his whole being that he was going with him...back to the safety of the library where he could immerse himself in his search for a cure and not worry about riding large, four footed animals and wrestle with strange tendencies to look at Amelia's room. His musings came to a halt when he noticed a very large, burly man headed towards him leading a medium sized black and white horse.   
"Are ye Zelgadis?" the man asked.   
"I am," Zel replied.   
"I'm Horse Master Josh, and this here little lady is Gentle Breeze. She's the one ye're gonna be learning yer basics on," the man said, giving the mare an affectionate pat on her neck.   
Zel gave the mare a wary look, not quite sure if she would live up to her calm name. The mare gazed back at him with liquid brown eyes, and for a moment Zel felt as if he were being sized up and measured. The mare then snorted, shook her head, and moved forward to where her nose was an inch from the chimera's face. She then lowered her head and butted her forehead up against his chest, rubbing it up and down and making low whickering noises.   
"Well, I'll be!" the Horse Master said, eyes widening. "The only one she ever took a shine to this quickly was Princess Amelia. That never stopped her from being as gentle as a kitten with the other folks who've learned to ride her, but she was never affectionate like she's being now."   
"I think she just likes the fact that my skin is abrrassive," Zel muttered, trying to ignore the little jolt of shock that had surged through him when Amelia's name had been mentioned.   
"Well, ye can bet she'll be even more gentle when ye're on her back because she obviously likes ye. We may as well get started, times a wastin," Josh said. "Ye can also rest yer mind about the quality of the teaching. I taught the Princess Amelia herself how to sit a horse, and she's the best damn little horse rider there is in the entire country. 'Course, it helps that she has a way with horses, as well. They just seemed to beg for her attention when she'd come down to the stable area," Josh added, moving away from the mare to give Zel more room.   
Zel sighed as he gave the mare one last, wary look. The fact that Amelia was considered to be the best rider in all of Saillune had come as a bit of a shock. He had known that she knew how to ride, but had never really given much thought as to her skill. Zel sighed, and moved into the position that Josh indicated, and began the first vital lesson in horseback riding---how to get on. 

-------------------------------------- 

Ryo idly played with a long golden chain, not really paying much attention to what he was doing. Nick had informed him a few moments ago that Lina and that blond companion of hers had been sent to meet Gourry's grandfather, who also happened to be a great sage on the island of Mipross. Plans formed and were discarded with amazing swiftness as Ryo pondered the puzzle that was in front of him. He had to find a way to separate Lina Inverse from Gourry Gabriev, because when they were together they were nearly impossible to go against. Mostly because of the strong bonds of love the two shared. If Ryo could find a way to twist and distort those feelings, possibly even get them to stop trusting each other, then it would be easy to work around them. An evil, cold smile lit up his face as he came upon an idea, and he chuckled softly to himself.   
"Malena?" he called softly, and was rewarded as a dark blue cloud formed in the center of his room, then vanished to reveal an extremely curvy woman with long, jet black hair and cold, clear green eyes.   
"Yes, Master Ryo?" Malena asked, her voice sounding like the whisper of dry leaves across broken tile.   
"I have a job for you," Ryo said, leaning forward a bit. "You're a dream manipulator, correct?"   
"I can cause people to dream what I want them to, yes," Malena replied, her eyes never leaving Ryo's face.   
"I want you to sour the relationship between Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. They're too close for my comfort, and it would weaken one of the strongest links that binds this particular group together. I don't want you to attack them in the open, but attack them subtly, in such a way that they don't realize they're being attacked," Ryo instructed.   
"I understand, Master Ryo. You want me to turn their feelings towards each other in a different way, such as playing on insecurities and unrealized fears, correct?" Malena asked, a hint of a smile playing about her lips at the thought of the pain she could cause.   
"Exactly," Ryo nodded. "You are dismissed."   
Malena gave him a cold smile before she vanished. Ryo gazed where she had been for a moment, before turning his attention to the heart shaped locket that was hanging on the end of the gold chain he had currently been playing with. With a snap, he opened the locket and gazed at miniature portraits of the Crown Princess Ailanthus and her four year old daughter, Amelia.   
"Thirteen years ago you kept me from getting what I wanted, but now your little successor is out there on her own, no doubt wondering where she is and how she's going to get home. Well, your worries have no cause to cease, Guardian. I shall have what I want, and I'll get it out of your daughter," he hissed at the smiling woman, then shut the locket with a snap.   
"Ryo, what's to be done about Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev?" Nick shouted, bursting in through the door and skidding to a halt about a foot away from Ryo's chair.   
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Ryo snarled at his unwanted and unexpected guest.   
"It's my castle, and I don't need to knock. I demand to know what your plans are in regards to the sorceress and the swordsman," Nick said, thrusting his chest out.   
"I have already dispatched one of my minions to take care of that pair," Ryo said easily, before rising to his feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I find that I'm in need of a meal, and the company is lacking."   
Nick snarled as the Mazoku vanished, but there was really nothing he could do if he wanted to obtain the jewel he had set his eyes on. He knew that once Lina and Gourry returned to Saillune, they would pick up that other annoyance, Zelgadis, and head out in search of the princess. Nick chuckled, knowing that they wouldn't find anything other than a badly decomposed, water-logged body. No one survived the fall from the Canyon and the rapids that the river contained. 

----------------------------------- 

Lina opened her eyes, and moaned as a shaft of sunlight created the same effect on her brain that her Dragon Slave did to a small village. She felt like hell. Her mouth was stuffed with cotton, and any minute she expected her head to burst open like an over-ripe melon. She took several deep breaths, and was rewarded by a lessening of the pain in her head. She then cracked her eyes open again, and sighed with relief when she felt no more pain.   
"I'm going to Fireball that petite Guardian when we get back," she muttered as she sat up and looked around.   
"How are you doing to do that if she's already dead?" Gourry muttered from beside her, and Lina looked over to find him sprawled on his back, one arm flung over his eyes.   
"Gourry! Are you all right?" she asked, concerned.   
"I'm all right, Lina, just trying to get my head under control," Gourry replied, before removing his arm and sitting up, as well.   
"This place looks kinda familiar," Lina mused, as she gazed around a lush meadow that was surrounded by trees on every side.   
"I'm home!" Gourry suddenly cried, leaping to his feet. "Lina, this is my home! Grandpa's house isn't far from here!"   
He grabbed a surprised Lina by the wrist, and began running across the meadow, heading towards a small path that had been cut through the woods.   
"Just wait till you meet my grandmother! She's the sweetest lady and man, can she cook! Oh boy! Roast chicken and vegetables with home made apple pie....," Gourry said, and continued to list the foods they could look forward to as he continued to drag a speechless Lina behind him through the woods.   
By the time they reached the end of the pathway, Lina's stomach was growling and she was drooling slightly from having to listen to Gourry's food rant. She thought about bopping him over the head, but the excited and happy look on his face kept her from it. He looked as excited as a little boy, and she couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since he'd been home.   
"Gourry, just how long has it been since you've been back?" Lina asked, but before Gourry could answer, a familiar voice answered for him.   
"It's been over 6 years since we last saw him. Welcome home, my boy!" Gourry gave a happy shout, and grabbed the extremely small, grey haired old man up in a hug, crying, "Grandpa! How are you?!"   
Lina felt her jaw hit the ground, and decided that since her eyes felt like they were the size of dinner plates, that she would worry about it for the time being. She couldn't believe it! The man Gourry had swept up in his arms and called Grandpa was well known to her from her earlier traveling days with Naga, The White Serpent. Those were days she really didn't want to remember, since the memory of Naga's laughter was enough to cause milk to curdle in her stomach. Lina shuddered slightly involuntarily, and the small man turned to her once Gourry had set him back on his feet.   
"Nice to meet you again, Lina Inverse," Rowdy Gabriev said with a wry twinkle in his eye. That was when Lina's paralysis wore off, and she sprung into action.   
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" she screamed, running around in little circles with her hands clapped to her head.   
"Lina, calm down!" Gourry exclaimed, and caught the petite red head as she zoomed past, and brought her back against his chest. "You act like you've already met!"   
"We have!" Lina yelled, glaring at Rowdy, who merely winked at her. "I met him several years back when I came to Mipross Island with a companion. No wonder this place looked familiar! You have a lot to answer for, Rowdy! Manipulating me into helping you by offering the thing I want most and then not following through!"   
"But I did follow through. It just wasn't what you expected," Rowdy replied calmly in the face of Lina's ranting.   
"What are you talking about?!" Gourry demanded, getting exasperated with them both.   
"We should go to the house," Rowdy said. "Meliroon will have a nice lunch fixed, and we can tell you our story over fried chicken."   
Another realization seemed to smack Lina right between the eyes, because her head jerked back until she was gazing up at Gourry's face, and she yelled, "YOU'RE PART ELF?!"   
Gourry gave her a funny look, and asked, "What's wrong with that?"   
Lina didn't answer him, because her mind had suddenly become so overloaded, that she went into a mild state of shock, staring straight ahead with glassy eyes while her jaw continued to hang down to her knees. Gourry shrugged and picked her up in his arms, cradling her against her chest.   
"I told her that changing the past would directly affect her future," Rowdy muttered quietly to himself as he gazed at Lina in Gourry's arms.   
"What do you mean by that, Grandpa?" Gourry asked.   
"Long story, my boy. I'll tell you over lunch," Rowdy replied, and led Gourry up to the small house that was sitting at the end of the pathway, where he opened the door for Gourry and followed him inside. 

--------------------------- 

Next episode: Lina and Gourry tell Rowdy and Meliroon why they've come to Mipross Island (I hope you guys are familiar with Slayers: The Motion Picture, because I'm not about to re-tell that story. ^^). Zel's first riding lesson ends with a surprise visitor that sends the stables into shock, and what on earth are you doing out of bed, Amelia?!   
  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

The last thing Jonathan expected to find in the kitchen was Amelia, pale and trembling, holding on to the kitchen counter with all her strength, while her legs threatened to give out from underneath her.   
"Amelia, what do you think you're doing?" Jonathan demanded as he rushed to catch Amelia as she began to fall. "You're supposed to be in bed regaining your strength! You were very sick for quite a while."   
"I won't regain my strength any faster just lying in bed," Amelia protested as Jonathan began to carry her back up the stairs.   
"Well, the only thing you'll regain if you try to push yourself in such a way is a relapse," Jonathan scolded. Daniel was just about to start down the stairs when Jonathan and a still protesting Amelia came into view, and he stepped back a bit in shock.   
"What's she doing up?" he asked his brother, while Amelia rolled her eyes.   
"I found her in the kitchen holding on to the counter for dear life," Jonathan replied.   
"You need to be in bed," Daniel said, parroting Jonathan's words.   
"I'm surrounded by mother hens," Amelia grumped, earning a laugh from the twins.   
"Seriously, you really should listen to Dr. Jonathan here," Daniel said, giving Amelia a serious look. "We were afraid that you wouldn't survive the fever, and you definitely wouldn't survive another one in your weakened condition."   
"You should listen to my boys," an amused voice said from the foot of the stairs, and everyone turned to look at Sarah. "They know what they're talking about, and besides, you really don't want to worry us anymore, do you?"   
"Lay the guilt on nice and thick," Amelia quipped, then sighed. "All right, I'll stay in my room for another day."   
"A few more days," Jonathan said sternly, earning a dirty look from Amelia.   
"A few more days," she replied. "I won't leave the room, I promise."   
"Good. Now, let's get you back to bed," Jonathan said, and walked into her room, carefully depositing her on her mattress, and covering her with the quilt.   
"You know, you really remind me of our sister, Ashely," Jonathan said as he tucked Amelia in. "She was just as willful and stubborn as you are, and once she made up her mind, you had to get out of her way."   
"What happened to her?" Amelia asked, curious.   
"She didn't want to live life out here on the farm anymore, and so left for the big city in the east. You see, Ashely had a wonderful singing voice, and she didn't feel like it was appreciated out here."   
"I bet you miss her," Amelia said softly.   
"I do...we all do...but we keep in touch with her, so we know she's doing well," Jonathan replied.   
"I don't know if I have any family," Amelia said sadly, wishing, not for the first time since waking up, that she could remember her past, and what had happened to her those moments before her memory had fled.   
"I know! We can be your family! Daniel and I can be your big brothers, and Mom can be your mom! What do you think?" Jonathan said, his face as eager as a child half his age.   
"A mother," Amelia whispered, and felt something tug at the back of her mind, but when she tried to capture it, it vanished back into her subconscious, where she couldn't reach it. She returned her gaze to Jonathan's eager face, and smiled. "I'd like that," she replied, and Jonathan grinned.   
"Good! As your new big brother, I instruct you to get some rest, and to not leave this room for the next few days."   
"I knew there would be a catch," Amelia said teasingly.   
"Of course! We gotta get you healthy again," Jonathan replied as he left the room, carefully shutting the door behind him.   
Amelia lay still for a few moments, listening to the sounds of his footfalls retreating down the hallway, before throwing back the comforter and sitting up, swinging her feet over and placing them down on the floor. Then, using her headboard to brace herself, she rose to her feet and began to take faltering steps, cursing her weakness as she felt her legs tremble beneath her.   
"I didn't promise to not get out of bed," Amelia said to the room, "only that I wouldn't leave the room. That doesn't mean I can't try to get my strength back in here."   
Amelia couldn't explain the urgency behind her desire to get her strength back, she just knew that Sarah was worried about something. After she had shown Amelia how to mend socks, the two had talked a bit about the farm, the boys, and how to try to regain Amelia's memory. When Amelia asked about the boys' father, Sarah had become very quiet before telling her what had happened to him. Amelia felt, however, that Sarah was leaving something out, something she didn't want Amelia or her boys to know. Whatever that something was, though, it was close by and worried Sarah greatly. Amelia was determined to get her strength back and help Sarah with whatever it was that was worrying her in an effort to repay the debt she owed these good people for finding her, keeping her alive, and taking her in.   
Gritting her teeth, Amelia forced her weak legs to take one step after another, until she reached the bedroom window. Once there, she stopped to catch her breath, before turning to stagger back to the bed. Upon reaching the bed, she took a deep breath, and began again. 

-------------------------- 

Up, down, relax back, lift rib cage, the voice of Horse Master Josh seemed to drone on and on with no end. Zelgadis had always considered himself to be pretty miserable, but this misery beat anything he had   
ever experienced. He found it hard to believe, seeing as how his skin was stone, but he could easily swear that his neither regions were crying out for mercy as Breeze trotted on, either unaware of his suffering, or indifferent to it.   
"My my, looks like you're having a wonderful time!" Xelloss' cheerful voice invaded his concentration, and caused him to start so badly that if Breeze hadn't shifted beneath him to catch his off balance weight, he would have found himself butt first on the ground of the riding arena.   
"XELLOSS!" Zel exclaimed, glaring at the grinning trickster who was casually sitting cross legged in the air only a few feet from him. "What are you doing here?"   
"I was bored and I wanted to see how the riding lesson was going," Xelloss said with a smirk, as Zel shifted slightly with discomfort.   
"Why you," Zel began, only to be interrupted by Josh.   
"What do you think you're doing coming into MY ring and disturbing MY student?!" the Horse Master roared, stalking towards the grinning Trickster. "NO ONE is allowed inside the ring while I'm teaching, so you can just get out because you're distracting my student!"   
Xelloss lifted an eyebrow, but shrugged and vanished, only to reappear on the other side of the fence, grinning at Zel, who again shifted a little uncomfortably. He wasn't at all happy about having an audience witness his "torture session", and was even more unhappy that his audience was the grinning Trickster. He sighed, and was getting ready to proceed with the lesson, when a sudden commotion in the vicinity of the stables made itself known. One of the stable hands came running up to Josh, yelling his words so fast that Zel couldn't make out what he was saying. His curiosity rose as he watched Josh pale and give a panicked look towards the stables. He was about to ask Josh what was going on when, suddenly, squealing and thrashing noises were heard coming from the stables. Breeze lifted her head up and pricked her ears in that direction, and Zel followed the line of her ears to find out what all the commotion was about.   
There was a round of curses, inhuman screaming, a crash, and then a sickening crunching noise, all of which appeared to be heading in the direction of the ring. Suddenly, a black tornado tore through the entranceway of the stables, with several ropes and men trailing behind it, each one turning the air blue with their curses. The tornado suddenly switched directions, swinging the ropes and men that were attached to it in a strange parody of a ballroom dance, except a waltz wasn't supposed to end with the men being flung through the air in all directions. Zel could finally make out the features of the large mass of destruction, and was quite surprised to find only a medium-sized, black horse was creating all this damage. Upon closer inspection, his amazement grew, because this horse was so thin he looked like the mascot for some weird dieter's club. Blood was slowly leaking from several small lacerations upon the black hide, while older cuts had crusted over, making the horse look like he had also run a gauntlet of very sharp swords.   
The horse suddenly screamed again as yet another rope settled around his neck, tucked his hindquarters underneath him, and came to a skidding halt. He rose up to his full height, pawing madly at the air and the rope that attached him to the men who were standing well away from those deadly hooves. His ears were flat against his head, and his wild eyes were wide and rimmed in white. As the horse came down upon all four legs again, he lunged in the opposite direction of the men that were holding him, pulling them off balance and onto the ground as they released the rope they had used to try and control him. Zel felt a sudden spurt of panic as the horse began to race in his direction, his eyes blind to anything in front of him. He half expected the horse to come to a halt as he reached the fence that enclosed the riding ring, but the horse simply gathered up his front feet and leaped over the fence. Now, nothing stood between him and the nervous, inexperienced chimera on horse back.   
Zel felt Breeze tense up underneath him, and his mind froze up as he watched the black horse pound its way towards him. He had no idea what to do, and even his common sense failed to provide the fact that the best thing to have done would have been to either give Breeze a boot to get out of the way, or to get off Breeze's back and run while she fended for herself. His eyes widened as they met the crazed eyes of the black horse, and he braced himself for an impact when a voice suddenly roared out of the chaos.   
"SAFIR! HOLD!"   
The black's head jerked, and he dug in his hooves, half rearing in his attempt to obey that command. He left deep furrows in the soft sand of the riding ring, but he halted and stood a few inches from Zel and Breeze, his muscles quivering with fatigue and stress. He jerked his head around in the direction the command had come from, and let out a breathy, pitifully sounding whicker as the Horse Master walked up to him, carefully allowing the exhausted black to sniff his scent. Safir took a step towards Josh, his legs trembling so badly that it appeared he would fall over any second. When he got within reaching distance, he carefully lowered his head and pressed it up against Josh's chest, making soft sounds deep in his chest that almost sounded like sobs. Josh stroked Safir around his ears and down his neck, while a stable hand carefully walked up and began to slowly check the horse over for more serious injuries other than the cuts, fatigue, and thinness. Once that was accomplished, Josh gave another order to both the stable hands and Safir, and had them begin to walk him around the ring in an effort to cool him down and try to stop his trembling.   
"That's enough of a lesson for today," Josh told Zel, and helped him to dismount. "We need to get to Prince Phil as fast as possible, and let him know about Safir."   
"Why do we need to let Phil know about that bag of bones so quickly?" Zel wondered as he and Josh began to lightly jog towards the palace.   
"Because that's Safir," Josh answered, "And he's Princess Amelia's horse. He's the one she was riding when she left for Diolon."   
Zel's step faltered, and he cast another look back at the ragged horse. Even though he had known that Amelia had been in trouble, and had even had that knowledge confirmed by Ailanthus, the sight of her exhausted and battered horse slammed that knowledge home. For the first time, he actually thought about the fact that Amelia could very easily be lost to them forever. Even though Aila swore that she was alive, there was the riddle of why she couldn't pinpoint her exact location, and if Amelia were being held by a Mazoku, there was no telling what might be happening to her. Zel's insides clenched as fear began to claw its way up his throat, but he forced it back down, knowing that now wasn't the time to give in to the emotion that could easily drown him. There would be plenty of time for that once he reached the sanctity of his room. For now, they needed to alert Phil and decide on their course of action. He really wished Lina and Gourry were with him right now. He wasn't looking forward to Phil's reaction. 

------------------------------- 

The War For The Tea Cakes was finally over, and while Gourry helped his grandmother clean off the table, Lina and Rowdy idly yakked.   
"Gourry was right," Rowdy began. "Best way to snap you out of your shock was to wave food underneath your nose."   
"Don't get on my bad side, Rowdy Gabriev. I still haven't forgiven you for that stunt you pulled about the Hot Springs of Growth," Lina growled at the small man.   
"He really told you that you could grow taller if you swam in that spring?" Meliroon asked from the kitchen.   
"Yep."   
"Rowdy, shame on you," Meliroon chided gently.   
"You know why I did it, and if I had to do it over, I'd do the same thing," Rowdy grumped. "Besides, I never actually said it would grow her taller, I just said that it made things grow. She's the one who thought it would make her grow taller."   
"I still wonder why you never told me about meeting Lina before, Grandpa," Gourry called out while washing a couple of plates.   
"Well, if I had, it would have changed the course of history again," Rowdy replied. "You see, if you knew that you would have wound up with Lina, you would have gone off and searched for her first thing, instead of learning all those skills during your years as a mercenary."   
"Makes sense," Lina mused, putting her elbow on the table and leaning her chin in her hand.   
Gourry and Meliroon soon joined them at the table, and Gourry quickly told them about his engagement to Lina, which resulted in hearty congratulations and a smug look from Rowdy. Then the sorceress began to explain the reason behind their surprise visit.   
"I see. Ryo is causing trouble once again for the Saillunes, huh? And since the Sword of Light has returned to its original point of origin, you're unable to get it back. What do you propose I do about it?" Rowdy asked.   
"Aila is the one who suggested that we ask you that very question," Lina said.   
"Aila? You mean, Guardian Ailanthus?"   
"The very one. And how did you know that Ryo's the one who caused the problems in Saillune, anyway?" Lina asked.   
"Remember Joyrock?" Rowdy asked.   
"Without any fondness," Lina replied.   
"He was one of Ryo's minions. Before you went back in time and took care of him, with my help of course, he delighted in telling me how his master, Ryo, had caused the death of the Guardian Ailanthus, and was going to obtain the power of the Saillune Sword. Very nerve wracking," Rowdy answered.   
"I'll bet," Lina replied sarcastically. "So, do you know of a way to help us or not?"   
"She doesn't beat around the bush, does she?" Rowdy asked Gourry.   
"Not at all," Gourry replied with a grin.   
"Well, I know of a spell that can send you two back in time to meet up with my younger self about two years after the Joyrock incident," Rowdy mused. "It's similar to the one I used last time we met, Lina Inverse. However, it's going to take me about a week to gather up all the components for this spell to work."   
"Great! That means we get to stay here and eat grandma's cooking!" Gourry said enthusiastically.   
"What about sleeping arrangements?" Meliroon asked. "Do you and Gourry want to share a room?"   
"WHAT?!" Lina exploded, turning very red.   
"Grandma, don't embarrass her," Gourry said with a wink. "We may be engaged, but we're not ready for that yet."   
Lina sputtered for a few minutes, with her face matching the color of her hair, before she managed to get herself under control and agreed with Gourry. "We'll take separate rooms, thanks."   
Rowdy nodded while smirking, and Meliroon hit him lightly over the head. She then suggested that the two "children" go freshen up and settle into their respective rooms while she started on dinner. Gourry and Lina quickly agreed, with Lina calling dibs for the bath while Gourry claimed his old room for the duration of their stay. Rowdy left shortly afterwards, promising that he would be back soon after finding the first ingredients for his spell. Meliroon smiled with contentment, and went into the pantry to hunt up some of Gourry's favorite foods. 

---------------------------------- 

Next episode: It's all Amelia, folks! She turns out to be more stubborn than the Coddles had thought, but they soon find themselves very grateful for that stubbornness when danger rides into the farm, and Amelia discovers her sorceress powers.   
  
  
  



	9. Chapter 9

Sarah Coddle hummed gently under her breath as she kneaded dough for that day's bread.   
"May I help?" a voice asked from behind her, and Sarah turned to find Amelia standing in the doorway, leaning lightly against the doorjamb.   
"What are you doing out of bed?" Sarah asked, moving over to Amelia's side.   
"Well, Dr. Big Brother said I was to stay in my room for a couple of days, and it's been exactly two days," Amelia said with a smile.   
"Trust you to take him literally," Sarah grinned.   
Amelia nodded and moved away from the doorjamb, making her way over to the table and sitting down in a chair. She sighed, realizing that her walking around in her room had strengthened her a bit, but she still tired easily.   
"So," she said as she regained her breath, "Need any help?"   
"Actually, I do," Sarah replied, and handed Amelia a small paring knife and a basket of potatoes and carrots. "These need peeling."   
Amelia eyed the knife for a moment, feeling as if something important were battering away at the gaps in her memory, but any time she tried to grasp it, it fluttered away, leaving a small headache in its wake along with several disturbing images of red blood.   
"Are you sure," Amelia asked in a small voice, "that you trust me with a knife?"   
"Surely you don't intend to harm yourself," Sarah stated.   
"No, but you don't know if I might cause you harm. You did find me in blood covered clothing," Ameia replied, looking down.   
"True, but you don't remember how that blood got there. Besides, I don't think you would harm us unless you were provoked."   
"But....."   
"Amelia," Sarah said, taking the young woman's hands in her own, while troubled blue eyes met compassionate green ones, "Don't complicate the matter. Take it one step at a time. We're going to concentrate on getting you healthy again, and then concentrate on regaining your memory."   
Amelia gazed into the eyes of the woman who had taken her in, and felt tears of gratitude rush to her eyes. In order to hide them, she lowered her head and began to peel the vegetables.   
"Amelia," Sarah said softly, putting her hands over those of the young woman, "You need to cut away from yourself; otherwise, you'll injure yourself."   
"Oh," Amelia said, and blushed as she began peeling correctly.   
"The boys should be in soon," Sarah said as she returned to her bread.   
"They're up already? It's barely past dawn," Amelia said, startled.   
"They've been up for a while. Planting season is coming on, and the fields need to be plowed and made ready for the seeds," Sarah replied.   
"When I get stronger, I'll be able to help more," Amelia smiled.   
The sound of a door opening stayed Sarah from replying, and then the twins entered the kitchen, discussing planting, animal care, and equipment care.   
"Hey Mom, where's breakfast?" Daniel asked, then caught sight of Amelia at the table.   
"What are you doing up?" Jonathan demanded, moving to Amelia's side.   
"You said 'stay in my room for a couple of days', and it's been two days," Amelia repeated.   
"I didn't mean that literally," Jon said, and made a move to pluck her from her chair and return her to her sick bed, but a gentle look from Sarah stopped him.   
"I'm not getting any stronger staying in my bed locked away in my room," Amelia said, folding her arms and jutting her chin out stubbornly.   
"All right, I know when I'm beat," Jonathan laughed, then moved to where he could look full into Amelia's face.   
"What?" Amelia asked as he stared intently into her eyes for a moment.   
"Just checking to see if your eyes are still clear and alert, which they are," Jon replied, before placing a hand on Amelia's forehead, then moving to caress her throat. "Good. Everything seems to be normal. Now, have you had any indication that your memory might be returning?"   
Amelia shook her head, keeping the images of blood that had come to her as she had picked up the knife to herself. She didn't want to worry them, and she was a little afraid of what those images might truly   
mean. She contented herself with idle chatter followed by questions about the farm as Sarah set down a hearty breakfast. She smiled as the twins dug into piles of cooked eggs and sausages, occasionally joining   
in the fray as a small war broke out over the jam and biscuits. She felt another one of those tugs of memory, but this time she pushed it back, knowing that Sarah was right in that she needed to become healthy again before tackling the gaps. Once the twins finished, there was nothing left except a small disaster area, from which they excused themselves and headed out to continue preparing the fields for planting.   
Amelia slowly moved around the kitchen and helped Sarah clean up the mess. While Sarah washed the dishes, Amelia wiped down the table and cabinets, stopping occasionally to rest and catch her breath.   
"Don't overdo it, Amelia," Sarah chided as Amelia leaned against the counter.   
"I'm all right," Amelia answered with a reassuring smile.   
"Uh huh. And I suppose that you're really not as pale as my sheets and that's just water that's beading your forehead," Sarah said with an arched eyebrow.   
"I am a little tired, but I'll be all right," Amelia said again, then looked down at herself as she seemed to realize something. Flushing, she looked back at Sarah. "Um, Sarah?"   
"Hmmm?" Sarah asked, having turned her attention back to drying the dishes.   
"Is there a dress or something I can borrow? This shirt comes down to my knees, but, well.....," Amelia trailed off, a little embarrassed.   
Sarah turned and looked again at Amelia, and had to fight to suppress a grin at how Amelia looked like a forlorn little girl in that oversized shirt. "I see," she said, pleased that her voice didn't tremble with   
suppressed laughter. "If you'll continue peeling those vegetables, I'll go see if I can find you a dress."   
Sarah turned and left the kitchen, while Amelia bent once again over the task of peeling the top layer of skin off the veggies. She had finished ten potatoes when Sarah re-entered the kitchen with some cloth hanging over her arm.   
"Here, stand up and let's see how this dress measures against you," she said, directing Amelia to a patch of sunlight. She then shook out the dress and held it up against Amelia's front, her brow furrowed in   
concentration. After a moment, she smiled and told Amelia to try the dress on so that she could see how the length fit. Amelia grinned and made her way carefully out of the kitchen and back up to her room. Once   
she was there, she didn't hesitate to pull the oversized shirt off and toss it on her bed. She then turned to the pile of dark blue cloth that Sarah had given her, and carefully pulled it on over her head. Once she finished tying some of the ribbons into bows, she turned and looked at herself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of her door. The dress was longer than she had thought, and the hem dragged along the ground, but the rest of the dress was a good fit. Amelia smiled at her reflection, liking the way the dress looked on her and brought out the color of her eyes. It was made of homespun cotton, with a gentle sloping neckline and loose sleeves that reached to her elbows. The dressed nipped in at her waist and hung loosely down her legs, giving room to move about comfortably. She tied on the white waist apron that Sarah had included, giving a little relief to the steady continuous blue of the material. With a happy giggle, Amelia scooped up the dragging hem of the dress, and made her way back down to the kitchen.   
Sarah turned when she heard Amelia coming down the stairs, and smiled in appreciation when the young woman came slowly into the kitchen. The dress fit Amelia perfectly, showing off her figure in a very flattering way without inviting unwanted attentions.   
"The hem's a little long," Amelia said, and dropped it so that Sarah could see what she was talking about.   
"Hmmm, that shouldn't be too hard to fix. Over all, though, I'd say this dress is perfect for you. Do you like it?"   
"Very much!" Amelia replied with a happy grin.   
"All right, go put the shirt back on, and I'll come up to teach you how to hem clothing. I think you've had enough excitement for one day," Sarah instructed.   
"But I want to help you," Amelia said with a pleading look.   
"You'll be more help if you rest some more. You're white as a sheet again, and I'm sure that all that moving up and down the stairs has nearly done you in," Sarah replied.   
Amelia nodded, and once again returned to her room. Sarah came up shortly after Amelia had climbed back in the bed, and proceeded to instruct Amelia on how to shorten up a dress hem. After a few minutes, she handed the dress to Amelia and watched as the young woman began to ply needle and thread to her new dress.   
"You're certainly a fast learner," Sarah complimented after watching Amelia not commit a single mistake in five minutes.   
"You're a good teacher," Amelia replied with a smile.   
"Thank you. If you think you'll be all right, I'm going to finish getting lunch ready."   
Amelia nodded absentmindedly, her entire focus on the needle and thread that she had in her hands, determined to not make a single mistake in her given task. 

************************* 

The next day, Amelia donned her new dress and once again made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. The hem now reached slightly above her ankles, and she found that walking was much easier than she had thought it would be. All she needed now were shoes to protect her feet, and she'd be able to venture out doors for some fresh air.   
She had a happy grin on her face as she walked into the kitchen and greeted Sarah with a cheerful, "Good morning!"   
"Good morning, Amelia! Oh my, you did a splendid job on the hem! It's nice and even," Sarah complimented as she turned away from where she was cracking open some eggs.   
"Thank you," Amelia replied, and sat down at the table while Sarah brought her over some more vegetables to peel. "Do you think there's a chance I can find some shoes that will fit?"   
"I think we can find you something," Sarah said with a smile. "The twins will be coming in soon, would you like to go outside today? It looks like it's going to be near perfect weather."   
"I would love to!" Amelia cried happily, and began peeling the vegetables, humming slightly under her breath.   
Right when Sarah had the table set, there came the sound of four feet trampling over the porch.   
"Perfect timing," Sarah laughed. "I've never known those two to be late for a meal."   
"Hey, Mom! We got them!" Jonathan said as he entered the kitchen.   
"'Morning, Amelia! You look really nice in Ashley's old dress."   
"She sure does," Daniel said with a twinkle in his eye. "She'll look even better wearing these."   
So saying, he pulled a pair of shoes out of a burlap sack, and set them on the table. Amelia stared at them, her jaw hanging near her knees.   
"Wh-where, when," she stuttered.   
"We picked them up this morning," Jonathan said. "We got your foot size from those shoes we found you in, and the cobbler worked on them over the last few days. They should fit."   
With a grin that nearly split her face, Amelia easily slipped her foot into the shoe, and then showed off its perfect fit. "I'm ready to go outside!" she giggled as she tied on the other shoe.   
"They fit great," Jonathan said, eyeing her foot critically. "Now we just have to make sure that you don't get any blisters."   
"Trust you to worry about that, Dr. Rezo," Daniel grinned.   
"Rezo?" Amelia asked, her head snapping up as a warning bell sounded in her head.   
"Yeah, I like to call Jon that because he's always wanting to heal everyone, like Rezo, the Red Priest used to do," Daniel explained, but Jonathan was peering at Amelia intently.   
"What is it, Amelia?"   
"I don't know, but that name, it sounds familiar," Amelia said, furrowing her brow.   
"Don't strain, you'll only give yourself a headache. It'll come to you someday," Jonathan said, giving Amelia a reassuring smile.   
"Are you sure?" Amelia asked, glancing down at her clenched hands.   
"I'm sure. You've just got to give yourself time, that's all," Jonathan said. "In the meantime, I'm starved! Let's eat!"   
"Sometimes I think you've got a bottomless pit down there, Jon," Daniel teased as Sarah and Amelia brought the food to the table and everyone dug in.   
Once the twins had finished, they headed back outside while Sarah and Amelia cleaned up the kitchen.   
"Sarah, can I ask you a question?" Amelia asked.   
"Sure, what is it?"   
"Well, um, what happened to Mr. Coddle? Will I get to meet him?"   
Sarah paused for a second, then said quietly, "He's dead."   
"I'm so sorry!" Amelia cried, feeling horrible for bringing up the subject.   
"No, it's all right. It's only logical that you would ask. He was killed five years ago when some land raiders took it into their heads to try and steal our ranch. My husband took out most of them, but they had managed to wound him before they left. He died a few weeks later from an infection," Sarah finished, her voice soft.   
"I never should have asked," Amelia moaned.   
"No, no, it's all right," Sarah replied with a small smile. "It was years ago. Now, I think you're itching to go outside, aren't you?"   
Amelia smiled sheepishly, and asked, "Am I that obvious?"   
"The twinkle in your eye gave you away. There's a large shade tree not far from here. I think you'll be able to walk there easily, and you can sit in the shade while you rest before coming back."   
"That sounds wonderful! Thank you, Sarah," Amelia said, giving the woman a hug before making her way out of the kitchen. She stepped through the front door, and took a deep breath. The air smelled and tasted fresh and clean, and Amelia filled her lungs with it. She stepped off the porch and into the sunlight, feeling her spirits lift as her back slowly began to warm from the sun's rays. Looking around, she spotted the large tree that Sarah had mentioned, and slowly began walking in its direction. She gazed around the farm as she walked toward the tree, and couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer size of the ranch. Waves of green grass stretched for as far as she could see, broken only by plowed fields of rich brown dirt. She saw Jonathan and Daniel waving at her in the distance, and she waved back as she   
continued on her way to the shade tree. When she reached the base of the tree, she felt a little tired but not   
as tired as she had been feeling lately. All the moving around seemed to be helping her to regain her strength. Amelia smiled happily, thinking about how she would help out more on the farm once she was   
fully recovered. Amelia sat down in the shade, and leaned her back against the trunk of the tree. She gazed into the distance, and thought over what Sarah had told her. It must have been awful to have raised three kids on her own and to see her husband murdered. Amelia found that she admired Sarah greatly for hanging onto the ranch and working with the twins to make it as prosperous as it is.   
Amelia glanced down beside her, and her eyes caught a sparkle in the grass. She reached down and picked up a small, shiny, blue stone. She gazed at it, moving it around as she tried to figure out why the   
color looked so familiar to her. She finally gave up with a shrug and put the stone into the pocket of her dress. She then leaned her head back against the bark of the tree, and closed her eyes as a wave of sleepiness swept over her. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.   
She didn't know how long it had been since she had fallen asleep when she was jerked awake by rough hands yanking her to her feet. She blinked as her fuzzy brain registered that she was being partially   
dragged, partially led back in the direction of the house. Her mind began to writhe with faint images and feelings, the most prevalent of which were feeling helpless and alone. She stumbled as the hand on her wrist suddenly let go and shoved her in the back, but she was saved from a fall by warm hands clasping her arms and holding her upright.   
"There was no call for you to be so rough with our sister!" she vaguely heard a voice say.   
With a great effort, Amelia brought her rampaging mind under a semblance of control, and brought her eyes into focus. She was standing next to the twins and Sarah, and they were all surrounded by gruff looking men with naked swords and other weapons in their hands.   
"What's going on?" she asked, looking at the Coddles as Jonathan released her upper arms.   
"Land raiders," Daniel growled, while Sarah's white face remained impassive. "They came up while we were occupied."   
"Land raiders," Amelia whispered, staring around at the men, several of whom leered at her in a way that made her skin crawl.   
"Hey, boss, can we keep the dark haired girl?" one of the men asked, licking his lips.   
"You stay away from our sister!" the twins cried simultaneously, and Jonathan moved to stand in front of Amelia protectively.   
Amelia felt as if she were in her own personal nightmare. "It's happening again," suddenly rang through her mind, but every time she tried to figure out what "it" was, she was only left with other   
images that confused her even more. The entire scene had a surrealistic familiarity to it, and the man's words had evoked a deep sense of fear and anger inside her.   
"Don't make us laugh, boy," a tall, heavily muscled man said. "My men want to know if we can keep the girl, and if I say we can, we can."   
Amelia clenched her teeth when one of the blades slashed out and cut into Jonathan's cheek, and she watched in horror as blood began to trickle down his jaw. Sarah cried out a protest and rushed to Jon's side, pressing on the wound with a strip of cloth she had torn from her sleeve. Amelia's eyes narrowed as anger began to overcome the fear she had felt; unbidden, she felt a stirring of something inside her as phrases began to pop into her mind. She didn't know where they came from, but she did know one thing. Whatever "it" was, she had apparently been helpless at the time for some unknown reason. This time, she was determined not to be helpless. She stepped around Daniel, who had taken Jonathan's place in front of her, and stood glaring at the bandit leader.   
"Oh, so the little beauty has decided to be smart and come with us willingly," the leader smirked.   
"Think again," Amelia said. She put her faith into the words that were in her mind, held her hands in front of her, and yelled, "BURST RONDO!"   
Several hundred tiny fireballs shot from her hands and impacted with the bandits around them, sending them flying into several directions. Amelia blinked and look at her hands.   
"What did I do?" she asked. The Coddles didn't seem to be in any position to answer her, for they all looked like they had been kicked by a rampaging horse as they stared at Amelia.   
"You little bitch!" one of the bandits yelled and lunged at her. Amelia jumped out of the way, wincing as her weakened legs wobbled a bit beneath her. Again, she trusted in the phrases which were floating around inside her head.   
"FLARE ARROW!"   
"FIREBALL!"   
"FLARE BIT!"   
Several spells and explosions later, the raiders had crawled to their horses and ridden away, leaving a still very upset Amelia and her adopted family. Amelia sighed, and lowered her hands, turning her attention to the still rather shocked Coddles.   
"Jonathan, let me see your cheek," she said, and gently removed the blood-stained cloth from his cheek. "RECOVERY!"   
Jonathan blinked at her and brought a hand up to his cheek, gently touching the place where he had been cut. Daniel then broke the stunned silence with, "YOU'RE A SORCERESS???!!"   
"I...um...guess I am."   
"Do you remember anything?" Jonathan asked, his mind jumping to Amelia's amnesia.   
"No, nothing concrete really," Amelia said, furrowing her brow. "I just keep having words and phrases jump around inside my brain."   
"Amelia," Sarah said softly, "Thank you."   
Amelia flushed a bit, stammering, "I really didn't do anything."   
"No? I think you did," Sarah smiled. "Now, let's all go inside. I, for one, could use a nice stiff drink."   
"Sure thing, Mom!" the twins said, and Amelia nodded. She knew that a drink wasn't the only thing Sarah had on her mind. Jonathan confirmed this when he said, "I can ask Amelia some more questions, and we might be able to help her remember more."   
"Sounds good to me," Amelia agreed, suppressing a shivering feeling that she didn't want to regain any more of her memory. 

***************** 

Next episode: Zel finally gives in and hunts down Amelia's room. What he finds surprises him and makes him think a little more about the princess. Lina and Gourry are still hanging out on Mipross island, only now Lina is starting to have really strange dreams. And yes, I love playing around with dreams. ^^   
  



	10. Chapter 10

Zelgadis wandered around the halls of Saillune, taking in the unusual quiet of the palace. Ever since Amelia's Safir had disrupted his first lesson, the entire kingdom had been in an uproar. Because the horse had run straight through the city's main street, hundreds of people had seen him and because Safir was so well known as Amelia's horse, Prince Phil was bombarded day after day with people asking about Amelia, wondering where she was, and wondering if she was all right. The list went on and on. At one point, Phil had to stop several of the citizens from forming a small army and going after Amelia. Zel hadn't realized that Amelia was so well loved in Saillune. He figured that it really shouldn't be much of a surprise; but, at the same time, he found it hard to picture the affectionate, cheerful, traveling companion he had come to call friend as a serious and sober eventual ruler of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world. Zel paused to study a tapestry that was hanging on the wall, and muttered to himself, "Guess there's a lot that I don't know about Amelia."   
Phil had apologized the other night about neglecting his duties as Zel's host, but Zel waved him off, telling him that he was fine with staying in the library and looking through the royal collection of books. Of course, Zel's riding lessons hadn't stopped despite the fact that the entire stable was worried sick over Amelia, and he now found himself looking forward to those small breaks from studying books and fighting off weird impulses to hunt down Amelia's room. It also helped that Horse Master Josh had stated that Zel had a natural riding ability, and he would soon be graduating from the gentle Breeze to a horse that Josh swore would suit Zel's personality type better than a rickety old school horse.   
Zel paused next to a line of portraits of past rulers of Saillune to think back on the day Safir had, literally, blown a hole in Phil's plans to find Amelia quietly. Amazingly enough, he had taken the news of   
Safir's return, and the condition the horse had arrived in, calmly, with only a small twitch of an eyebrow to betray any emotion he had felt. Phil then ordered Josh to do everything he could to get the horse back into a healthy condition, before turning his back to them.   
Zel had started to follow Josh out the door, but something made him pause and look back at the large Crown Prince of Saillune. Phil's shoulders had been slumped, and they occasionally jerked with emotion as he tried to control himself. Zel had left knowing there wasn't a thing he could do for the prince, especially since he himself was finding it difficult to contain his worry over Amelia's safety and well being. He had tried to hunt down Xelloss to see if the Mazoku could offer any more insights about Amelia's location, but he had been unable to find the Trickster. Apparently, he had vanished during the confusion of Safir's entrance, and Zel found himself both annoyed and relieved that the Trickster wasn't around. He was annoyed because he had wanted to ask Xelloss about his true agenda in regards to the missing Princess of Saillune, but he knew that he probably wouldn't have gotten an answer beyond, "Sore wa himitsu desu."   
Just thinking about those four words caused Zel's blood to boil, and he brought himself back to the present with a small jerk of his head. As he focused again on where he was, he found himself standing in front of a closed door, with no idea how he had gotten there. Shrugging, Zel figured that he must have been walking while lost in his musings, and wound up in the living section of the palace once again. The corridor on either side of him was lined with doors similar to the one he was standing in front of, but for some reason Zel found himself studying the intricate carving on the door, and felt a tickling sensation at the back of his mind. It was almost like something was calling to him on the other side of the door. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he reached for the doorknob. Thanks to well-oiled hinges, the door opened without a sound.   
Zel walked through the doorway and found himself in a room that was full of light. There were huge picture windows lining one wall, and the light blue curtains had been thrown back to let the sunlight fill the room. A huge, antique four-poster bed took up the center of floor. A white comforter with splashes of bright yellow, pale blue, and spring green graced the bed, one corner turned down as if it was waiting for someone. A vanity sat against the wall to the right of the bed, while an over-sized chest of drawers occupied the left side. Two bookshelves on the other wall completed the room, but what caught Zel's eye was the portrait of Ailanthus hanging between the two bookshelves.   
The former Crown Princess of Saillune was smiling as if she were hiding a secret, and her long hair had been gracefully arranged in an elegant French twist with a couple of curls pulled loose and framing her face. She was wearing a formal gown of emerald green silk, and emerald tear drops graced her ears. She looked very different from the woman ghost that everyone had met in the Sword Room.   
Instead of looking like she was prepared for battle, Ailanthus looked ready to attend a royal ball. Her expression was calm and serene, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a knowing quirk about her smile. Zel gazed at the portrait, and for a moment it was Amelia he was seeing in elegant ball clothing, smiling cheerfully at everyone who greeted her. He blinked, and once again he was gazing at the painting. The corner of a small sheet of paper that had been folded up several times and stuck behind the painting caught his eye, and he carefully reached up and tugged on it, breathing a sigh of relief when it came free easily and landed in his hand. Zel walked over to a large roll-topped desk, and sat down in the chair where he could benefit from the sunlight. He unfolded the sheet of paper, not worrying about whether or not what he was doing was wrong or right. As far as he knew, the sheet of paper could contain a clue to his cure. He knew he was grasping at straws, but it helped him to feel better about reading what could possibly be a private letter to someone. He glanced once again at Aila's painting, before he began to read.   
_"I'm told that my mother looked exactly like me, but it's so difficult to believe that sometimes. If it weren't for the fact that I often see her in my dreams, I wouldn't believe them at all. Most of my memories of her are hazy at best, and non-existent at worst. It seems that I can't remember anything about her past my fourth year, but I know from records that she died when I was five. I don't remember much at all from my childhood, now that I think about it. I know I had an older sister who vanished after Mother died, but I don't remember anything about her other than this horrible laugh. Hmmm, I ramble as I'm wont to do when I have time to take a breather during paper signings and going over treaties. It's probably because Daddy keeps me so busy that I hardly have time to hear myself think. That's one reason I like to travel around with Lina and the others. Once the initial annoyance of having a diplomatic mission interrupted wears off, I can drop the princess and become just plain Amelia."_ Zel jerked a bit when he realized that he was reading Amelia's writing, but he couldn't stop himself now. For some strange reason, he was almost craving some link with the missing princess, some reminder that she existed. Being stuck in Saillune, which was in a state of guarded emergency over her missing status, was taking more out of Zel than he was aware of.   
Everyone kept asking the same question, was Amelia alive or not? Hearing that for the past three days was slowly starting to wear on Zel's nerves. Zel shook his head, and went back to reading. _"As usual, I digress once again. I'm supposed to be talking about my painting, that's why I originally began a journal in the first place. Like I said, I'm told that I look like my mother, so in a way, this painting of my mother is a self-portrait. I'm not sure where I got the idea that Mother had pale purple hair and brown eyes. I can't remember, and in my dreams her face is usually a faint, fuzzy blur. I guess I heard Daddy mention that Mother had hair and eyes of those colors, and it just stuck in my subconscious until I needed it. I do know that she had a dress like the one I painted, because Daddy gave that very dress to me a year ago, stating that Mother would have wanted me to have it. Looking at it makes me nostalgic, so I keep the dress in my closet. I can't quite bring myself to wear it yet. Maybe one of these days."_   
In place of a signature, there was an A with an S through it. Zel got up and walked over to the painting, finding the exact same A and S in the right corner of the canvas. Zel stared at the signature, trying to incorporate this new facet to Amelia that he had just learned. He never knew, and he bet neither Lina nor Gourry knew, either, that Amelia had such talent in the art department. She always seemed to be so full of energy that it was nearly impossible to picture her standing in front of an easel and taking the time to mix paints without getting impatient and smearing the paint all over the canvas.   
Zel shook his head, once again acknowledging that there was more to Amelia than he had originally given her credit for. He carefully refolded the slip of paper, and replaced it underneath the frame. As he pulled away, he glanced to the left and noticed that the bookcase next to him had hinges bolting it to the wall. "Why would a bookcase need hinges?" he wondered out loud, and walked over to the other side. The right side didn't have hinges, and he put his fingers into the small space between the wall and the back of the bookcase, and pulled. The right side slowly pulled away from the wall and swung to the left, leaving Zel standing at the foot of a circular staircase. Zel furrowed his brow, and began to climb the stairs, remembering that he had seen a circular tower at the north end of the castle when he and the others had first walked into the courtyard.   
As he climbed, he wondered why Amelia had a concealed staircasebehind her bookshelves, for there was no doubt in his mind that it was her room he had just been in. It served no purpose as an escape route as far as Zel could see, and there was very little point in trying to defend the palace from such a small area. Not to mention the complete lack of space for someone to defend themselves should they be chased into the upwards twisting staircase. Zel smiled slightly as he imagined Amelia backing up the stairs away from her attackers, only to have a klutz attack and fall down the stairs, taking her attackers with her.   
Zel's musings were brought to a halt when he came to the end of the stair case to find himself standing yet again in front of a large, wooden door. He reached, and easily pushed the door inwards, and passed through the threshold into a room that was full of light. The round tower was composed of nothing but a large bank of windows that must have been disguised by magic to make the solid rock appearance from the outside. The large windows allowed for every single ray of the sun to light up the room no matter what time of day it was. Zel stood blinking in the doorway for a few seconds before his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of the room, and then what he saw caused his eyes to widen in stunned amazement. Stacks and stacks of paintings were leaned against the walls and filled up almost every available floor space that the tower room offered. Each painting had a small folded piece of paper stuck to its right corner, but what really sent Zel's mind reeling was that each and every painting was composed of either Lina, Gourry, Gourry and Lina, himself alone or with Gourry and Lina, one strange painting of a young girl in a fetal position, and one painting of Prince Phil.   
A large easel was set up in the center of the room, with various paint and painting instruments laying about, all of them having been meticulously cleaned prior to the artist leaving the room. A large canvas was situated on the easel, and Zel walked around to the front to get a better look at what the canvas contained. He felt his heart start to pound as his own features were revealed to him. He was in a fighting stance, half crouched with one hand braced against the ground, almost as if he were getting ready to cast a spell. His cape was flying behind him in a breeze, and his eyes were cold and focusing intently on whatever it was he was getting ready to fire the spell at. In the right-hand corner was the word, "Untitled" with a now familiar A with an S through it underneath.   
Feeling strangely reluctant, Zel reached up and gently grasped the piece of paper that had been placed on the right corner of the painting, unfolded it, and began to read. "_It's disgusting . . ._," was how it started out, and Zel quickly looked up at the painting as anger raged through his mind. All her proclamations of friendship were nothing more than a lie! She didn't see him as himself, she only saw him as an IT! Just as briefly, he calmed himself, regaining the control he so carefully exerted over his emotions. He returned to the paper, having decided to learn all of its secrets. He continued to read. "_It's disgusting that Zelgadis can be so beautiful and graceful, and not be aware that he is. I can't recall how many times we've passed through a town and I saw all the young townswomen sighing after him simply because he walked past them. I can't believe that he considers himself a freak. He's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. The simple way he picks up a coffee mug or wine glass is so elegant that I find myself envying him his poise and grace. I, a princess, have my klutz attacks and have occasionally had to deal with embarrassing mishaps at the dinner table during my younger years. I wish that I could think of a title for this painting, but I'm not even sure it captured what I had hoped it would. I wanted to try to capture the grace and economy that simply is Zelgadis, but I think I simply caught the focus and determination that makes up such an important part of his soul, which is fine. I can't always be so picky, simply because I wasn't able to get what I wanted out of my paints. I can be content with what I have. I've had years to learn that art_."   
Zel looked up from the intertwined AS at the end of the note, and gaze again at the painting. "She thinks I'm beautiful?" he asked himself, feeling his face heat up despite his best efforts to keep it from doing so. He carefully refolded the note and replaced it in the right hand corner of the painting, before turning his attention to the other paintings. He no longer felt many qualms about going through Amelia's little notes. He found himself almost hungry for some understanding of how the petite princess saw her traveling companions. He wasn't about to admit to himself that he wanted to know once and for all just how she saw him, personally. 

******************* 

Lina stared in horror at what was taking place right in front of her eyes. Gourry and . . . some woman . . . doing . . . that . . . . The image was too horrifying for Lina, and she whirled away from the passionate couple and ran down the hallway that was suddenly visible. She ran and ran, her breath hissing in and out of her lungs as tears clogged her throat and streamed down her cheeks. How dare he! How dare he do something like THAT with another person when he was engaged to HER! Lina let loose a broken sob as she came to a halt and collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she struggled to contain the tears that were threatening to choke her.A soft laugh jerked her head up, and she found herself staring into the coldest pair of green eyes she had ever seen. It was the woman Gourry had been . . . Lina stopped that line of thinking as she quickly got to her feet and glared at the woman, only noticing now that the woman was completely nude.   
"So, what's your problem, Lina Inverse?" the woman asked, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder as she continued to gaze at the petite red head.   
"What did you think you were doing with my fiance?!" Lina demanded, now angry that the shock finally wore off.   
"Why, making love with him, of course," the woman said, trying to look innocent but looking more like the cat who had eaten the cream instead. She folded her arms underneath her ample breasts, and said, "Surely you didn't think you could keep a virile young man like him interested with such a small, flat body like yours, did you? Not when there are others like me who would be more than willing to share his bed and offer him more attributes than you would ever get no matter how hard you try."   
Lina grabbed her ears in an effort to stop that hateful voice, but it continued to penetrate into her brain. "Little flat body, can't keep his attention, he'll leave you eventually, you'll be all alone again, he doesn't love you . . ." Over and over and over the words worked their way inside her entire being until they began to find all the dark places of her soul that she had kept hidden from the world.   
Lina jerked awake with a gasp, sitting up and clutching the sheet to her chest as she dragged in great lungfulls of air. It had only been a nightmare. Gourry was still her intended and no one was going to take him away from her. Yet, there was now a small corner of her brain that whispered, "Are you sure about that?"   
Lina shook her head and swung her feet to the floor. There was no way she was going to return to sleep after the dream she had just had. She padded to the door, and slowly made her way down to the kitchen, where to her surprise she found Meliroon moving about and preparing to cook breakfast.   
"Good morning, Lina," Meliroon said softly, smiling at the sorceress.   
"Um, good morning. What are you doing up? It's so late!" Lina said.   
"I should be asking you the same question. I always get up this early when Gourry is visiting, because it takes a while to prepare a breakfast big enough for him. And since you're here, a feast is in order," Meliroon said.   
"I'm sorry if I'm trouble," Lina said in an uncharacteristic show of meekness.   
"No trouble. I love doing things for Gourry and the ones he love. But why are you up?"   
"I . . . . had a nightmare and just didn't want to go back to sleep," Lina confessed, feeling secure with Meliroon as she puttered about in the kitchen.   
"Why don't you have a seat at the table and I'll bring you some tea," Meliroon said, and Lina did just that. When Meliroon placed the cup of steaming liquid on the table, Lina picked it up and began to sip.   
"What did you dream about?" Meliroon asked, looking concerned.   
"Nothing important, really," Lina lied, saying to herself, "There's no way I could tell her what I really dreamed about."   
"I see," Meliroon replied, looking thoughtful.   
"Meliroon, may I ask you a question?" Lina asked, fiddling with her mug.   
"Sure, go right ahead."   
"How is it that you and Rowdy are both still alive? That fight with Joyrock took place a long time ago, and I know elves have long life spans. Then why . . ?"   
"Is Rowdy here, you want to ask, right?" Meliroon finished, and Lina nodded. "Well, that's a long story, so I'll try to shorten it up a bit. As Rowdy told you, my father didn't appreciate the fact that I was in love with a human, but after Rowdy, with your help, saved us from Joyrock, he became a little more tolerant of Rowdy's attentions. When it became apparent that he was growing up faster than I was, I begged my father to increase my aging process so that I would grow with him. My father agreed, but instead of increasing my age, he took half of my life span and gave it to Rowdy. This slowed down his own growth process, and I eventually caught up with him. Once that happened, we both aged at the same rate, and, well, here we are."   
"Makes sense," Lina mused as she finished up her tea.   
"Now, I want you to go back to bed, that tea should help you sleep without dreams," Meliroon said, and Lina nodded, already feeling sleepy as she got up from the table and made her way back up to her room.   
Meliroon watched her go in concern, then got up to find Rowdy. 

************ 

Next episode: Zel in Amelia's studio, what he finds surprises him.   



	11. Chapter 11

It had taken only a few minutes to get the paintings stacked in some semblance of order, and Zel stepped back to look at his handy work. All the paintings that were of Lina and Gourry were leaning against one wall, all the pictures of Lina, Gourry and himself were against another wall, pictures of only himself were on another side, and those that didn't seem to fit into any category were leaning near the door. Once he had finished, Zel looked around and picked the first painting of Lina and Gourry, which had been dated to around the time they had defeated Copy Rezo. The brush strokes were a little cruder than some of the later paintings, but it was still an amazingly lifelike piece of artwork, and Zel couldn't help but smile a little as he gazed at it. In it, Lina was sitting on Gourry's shoulder flashing the Victory sign and winking, while Gourry had his hand on her leg to steady her and was smiling at whomever was looking at the canvas. Zel reached for the little square of paper, carefully pulled it out, and began to read Amelia's writing.   
_"I think Zelgadis was right when he made the comment about how he'd never seen two people fight so much whenever they get near each other. The thing that surprises me about Lina and Gourry is that I sense an affectionate undertone to the fighting (unless it's over food) that I know Lina would be too embarrassed to admit to, and Gourry probably wouldn't remember being there. You can tell that these two are good friends, and it's my belief that they'll be much more than friends before long. After all, Lina is still traveling with Gourry at the time I'm writing this (about a year later) and hasn't killed Gourry in his sleep to get the Sword of Light yet. I remember when I painted this that I had hoped to capture the light-hearted personalities of two of my best friends, as well as portraying some of the affection they have for each other. For once, I think I accomplished my goal because Lina looks like she's very relaxed, and Gourry certainly has a peaceful, easy-going expression on his face. Lina and Gourry are probably the easiest people I'll ever paint, because there really isn't that much that they keep hidden from the world. Lina is very much 'take me as I am' and I don't think Gourry would know HOW to keep his true nature from shining through for very long."_   
Zel glanced again at the painting and smiled at the image of his two friends. Amelia was right, Gourry would never be able to hide his true self for very long. He could probably fake it for about a week, but eventually his true soul would shine through any mask he tried to put on. With a slight shaking of his head, he carefully folded the slip of paper and replaced it in its spot between the canvas and the frame. He then turned his attention to another painting of himself, one that had caught his attention when he had run across it in his organization attempt. In it, he was sitting with his back leaning against a tree, his hands behind his head as he dozed off underneath the dappled shade. Behind the tree trunk, he could make out a bit of the white wall that surrounded part of the royal garden of Saillune. His face was peaceful, and his sword was laying on the ground next to him. He remembered that day. It had been shortly after they   
had discovered that Philionel had faked his death, and he had gone into the garden to walk around and clear his head. The spot underneath the tree had looked inviting, and he had sat down and proceeded to run through the list of suspects in Phil's "death" once again. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep and dreamed that Amelia had come looking for him, but when he woke up she wasn't there. He gently tugged the slip of paper free, and began to read.   
_"I came across Zelgadis sleeping underneath a tree in the garden. His face looked so peaceful that I had to stop and watch him for a few moments. He always has a look of determination, concentration, slight depression, or annoyance on his face, and it was nice to see him with such a gentle look. Thankfully, I had my sketch pad with me and did a quick sketch of his face and body position, then hurried back here to transfer it onto canvas. Out of all the pictures I've painted of Zelgadis, this has to be by far my favorite. It's the first truly unguarded moment I've ever seen him have and, as always, his gracefulness leaves someone a bit breathless when they look at him, especially when he is in such a relaxed position. When Zelgadis is in his battle-ready stance, he's very intimidating and focused. When he's relaxed, he reminds me almost of a child, face open to the world. Of course, according to the maids, all men look like this when they're asleep. All I know is that Daddy looks like a hibernating bear when he's sleeping, and he sounds like one, too. AS"_   
Zel's eyes looked again at the painting, replacing the paper as he did so. He did look more relaxed than usual, but he still couldn't quite place where Amelia kept getting all these ideas that he was graceful, or even beautiful. He just didn't see it. All he saw was a freak sleeping with his back against a tree. "I don't understand," he muttered to himself. Even Amelia herself had said that he was suspicious and creepy looking. Sure, she had still been a child, admittedly a well developed child, but an inexperienced child all the same. Still, it had only added fuel to Zel's determination to find a cure for himself. The thought of their first meeting brought to mind others, and slowly they began to make themselves known:   
"You're mean! I don't think you have a shred of compassion in you, Zelgadis!"   
"But you look so cool the way you are now!"   
"Wow, Zelgadis, you look so serious!"   
"Zelgadis! Here, you wanted to see this, right? The clue to the Clair Bible?"   
That last memory brought a smile to Zel's lips as he remembered the cheerful way Amelia had handed the Brass Racquet trophy to him, especially when he thought about how Xelloss hadn't gotten to look at it first. Sure, it had turned out to be the Clair GABLE trophy, but thinking back on it he realized that Amelia had planned on giving him the trophy when Xelloss talked her into using her influence to rotate them into the semi-finals of the competition. He seriously doubted that Lina would have done the same thing had she been given the trophy. The thought of the petit redhead brought a small frown to Zel's face. Used to be that whenever he thought of Lina, he would feel a small spurt of pleasure, but now all he felt was a small inkling of annoyance. Though she had said once that she had gone hunting the Clair Bible to help Zel find his cure, he knew that she had really done so because, as she told Amelia when Amelia had angrily confronted her about it, she wanted it for herself. That brought to mind more memories of the sorceress and her "guardian", and Zel's mouth quirked at the corner when he realized that, most of the time, Gourry was really teasing Lina about being her guardian. He knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Given the amount of beatings, bashings, Fireballings, Mega Brando-ings, and Dragon Slaves he'd survived, he knew better than anyone just HOW capable Lina was of taking care of herself.   
Gazing at the painting of his sleeping face, he again recalled the time Amelia had hesitantly asked him, as Dark Star rushed towards them, if when the whole ordeal were over would he come back to Saillune with her. He had told her he would think about it, and indeed once they began heading back towards Saillune, he had accompanied them. Then, when they were they were nearly there, something had caused him to falter, and he had gone off on his own again. As he had turned to walk away, he could feel Amelia's eyes on him, boring into his back with such intensity that it felt as if the Sword of Light were being pressed against him. He heard her ask Lina and Gourry to wait, and then her light footfall as she trotted after him, calling for him to wait for a moment. He had turned to look down at her, and she stopped nearly an arm's length away, fiddling with one of the bracelets on her wrists. She then pulled one off, and held it out to him.   
"Here," she had said. "If you ever need me or my help, send this back to me. It will also double as a key into the palace if you ever decide to come and visit."   
Zel brought himself back to the present, and found himself holding the bracelet and turning it in his hands, gazing at the blue ball with its star insignia on it. These past few years he had held on to it, telling himself that he kept it because it might come in handy some day if he ever DID need help. As time passed he found that, strangely enough, he began to take comfort in its shape and form, and would find himself playing with it the way he was now whenever he would begin to feel lonely. He reached out and grabbed a painting at random, and looked at it. It was of Gourry and Lina. They were standing with their backs facing each other, looking like they were about to step away from the other but were unable to because their hands were clasped. This painting was titled "Connection," and it piqued Zel's interest as he reached for the slip of paper.   
_ "Gourry and Lina are connected to each other somehow, and they just don't realize it. It's so plain to almost everyone else just how they feel for each other that I really wonder how they're able to keep their sanity about them as they travel. Probably because of Gourry's easy going manner, and he just doesn't realize what he feels for Lina. Lina, on the other hand, is probably driving herself crazy trying to figure out the conflicting emotions that Gourry brings out in her. Lina summed it up nicely after they defeated Mazenda. They're connected whether they want to be or not. I tried to get this across in this painting by having Gourry and Lina trying to step away from each other, but unable to because their hands were clasped together. I think it's rather nice, and hopefully one day Gourry and Lina will realize their feelings for each other. AS_   
_ P.S. I'm getting ready to head out for the Kingdom of Diolon, but I just had to add this to this entry. Lina and Gourry are engaged! It's about time! I'm so happy for them that I can't stand it. I'm going to give this to them as a wedding present, as well as a painting I have planned of Lina and Gourry in their wedding attire. Maybe that'll be a first year anniversary present."_   
Zel stared at the post script, hardly believing that he was reading something that Amelia had written just before she left for that disastrous journey. He replaced the paper, and began to look through the paintings, pulling out the papers, reading the dates, and replacing them without bothering to read the writing. He figured he'd get back to them at a later date, but right now he wanted to see if he could find something else that had been written before she left on her journey. He came to a painting that held the four of them, and sucked in his breath when he saw the date scribbled on the paper. According to the dates that Phil had given him, this had been written the day before Amelia left. On the canvas, Gourry and Lina stood in the background with their arms around each other, smiling while Amelia was sitting with a large smile and flashing the Victory sign, and he was kneeling beside her with his arm resting on an upraised knee, smiling out of the canvas. Once again, he began to read.   
_"This is another painting I might give to Lina and Gourry as a wedding present. It's a pity that they're always on the move and don't have somewhere to hang it. I can always hang onto it until they find themselves a place, if they ever do. We all look so happy here, it's hard to believe that I was really angry when the initial idea came to me. I had been listening to Zelgadis call himself a monster and a freak once again, and...well, I lost my temper. 'You are not a freak nor are you a monster!' I yelled, surprising him and everyone else in the process. 'Why is it that you can't see yourself for who you are, instead of what you look like? Why can't you believe that someone could actually care about you without caring about what package you come in? Why can't you understand how I . . .!' I never did finish what I was saying, because at that moment it became too much and I ran up here and began sketching the idea that came to me. I never did tell Zelgadis what was in my mind and heart. He'd probably never believe it, anyway. So here I am, adding the final touches to this painting before I head off to Diolon. I've decided that I'm definitely going to give this along with 'Connection' to Lina and Gourry. It'll be interesting to see Zelgadis' face when he sees that I've painted him. I just wish I had the courage to tell him just how much I . . . . Well, that's not important. When I return, my friends will be here and it will be great to see them again. AS"_   
"How much she what? What was she going to write?" Zelgadis wondered aloud. He remembered the day she was talking about. It was the same day he had fallen asleep in the garden, and for some reason he had been more depressed than usual when he returned to the castle. Zel remembered the shocked looks on Gourry's and Lina's faces as Amelia had suddenly yelled at him, then turned and rushed up the stairs. He figured that she had still been distraught over the near loss of her father.   
He glanced out of one of the windows, and noticed that it was almost time for him to meet Horse Master Josh in the stables. He cursed lightly as he replaced the paper, promising himself that he would return soon to look at Amelia's other paintings. He was trying very hard not to let Amelia's last sentence in that last entry shake him too much. After all, when they found her and returned her home, her friends would be there. Her paintings had definitely given him some things to think about, and more than a few puzzles to agonize over. As he made his way back down the spiral staircase, Zelgadis did something that he had never done before. He took a cold hard look at his feelings for his friends. For Gourry, there was respect for his prowess as a swordsman, a distant affection one feels for a good friend, and a bit of exasperation over his denseness. He was a little surprised when he got to Lina. For Lina, there was a great deal of respect for the sorceress, respect for her power, respect for her mind and respect for the way that whenever the odds seemed stacked against them, she was always determined that they would win. Taking second place to the feelings of respect was a form of affection that one could only call brotherly or the form of affection that one has for a very good friend. This surprised Zel, for he had been certain that love would be in there somewhere. As he closed the bookcase in Amelia's room and made his way back outside, he mused about his findings. Perhaps he had mistaken deep respect for love. After all, he didn't have that much practice or experience in that particular field. And as for Amelia . . .   
. Zel wasn't quite sure how he felt about Amelia. He respected her for her open heartedness and her deep affection for her friends. He worried over her safety, concerned that she could be out there injured. But . . . what else did he feel? Something was there, but he shook it away, not wanting to deal with emotions anymore. They gave him headaches. Of one thing he was certain, though; he did not love Lina Inverse, and with this realization, he suddenly felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Let Gourry have her for the rest of his life; his personality was better suited to her, anyway. The more Zel thought about it, the more he knew he was right. Lina and he would have clashed so much over so many things that eventually he would have either given up and walked out, or she would have.   
Zel grunted at that thought, and looked up to find himself once again standing in front of the stables. A stable boy spotted him and ran inside to get his horse. Instead of leading Breeze out, however, he lead out a tall, finely built blue roan. Zel stared at the horse, and the horse stared back at him and wrinkled her nose.   
"Where's Breeze?" Zel asked the stable boy.   
"Oh, the Horse Master said you were ready for Umi no Hikari here," the boy said, patting the horse on his neck.   
Zel took stock of his new mount. Umi stood a few inches above his shoulder, with heavily muscled haunches and a deep chest that suggested she could go a long way for a long time. Her legs were straight and she carried her head high, her deep brown eyes gazing around her, looking for all the world like she was taking anything and everything in at the same time. Her eyes were set wide apart, giving a hint of intelligence. Her bluish coat gleamed in the sunlight, and a light brown saddle and bridle complimented her coloring.   
"What do ye think?" a voice said, and Zel turned to see Josh standing a little ways away, watching him watch the horse.   
"She's of good stock, that's a definite given," Zel said, knowing what Josh was talking about. "She also looks like she could carry my weight for quite a long time if needed. Definitely not a speed horse, even though her head bears a shape very similar to Safir. She looks to be between the cross of a battle charger and a race horse."   
"That's exactly what she is," Josh said, coming up and giving Umi's velvet nose an affectionate swat. "Princess Amelia bred her especially for you."   
"She WHAT?!" Zel burst out, staring from Josh to the horse.   
"Yep, five years ago, to be exact. She got it into her head that she was going to present you and your friends with horses she had bred to fit your temperaments and living styles," Josh said. "There are two other horses in the stables that are for Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev when they return. Since you're going to be scouting the area looking for her from horseback, I figured she would rather you did it on your own mounts instead of borrowed ones from the stables."   
Zelgadis stared at his horse, not really sure how he felt knowing that she was his and Amelia had him in mind when she chose the sire and dam. He stepped forward and rested his hand on Umi's neck. The mare twitched an ear in his direction, and seemed to say, "Well? What are you waiting for?"   
Zel took a breath, and swung up into the saddle. He had just gotten used to Breeze, and now he was going to have to get used to a new horse. "But it's your new horse," a voice said in his mind, and Zel smiled faintly at the thought as he walked Umi into the practice ring and began to follow Josh's instructions.   
***********   
About an hour and a half later found a very tired chimera walking through the pastures of the Palace Stables. His first lesson on Umi had been wonderful. Even Breeze couldn't compare to the smooth easy gait of the mare, and Umi had shown through various tests that Josh had set up that she had a very intelligent mind and was even capable of coming up with new ways to go through the tests. Josh had laughed and stated that Umi had been a handful for the stable proper, because she was always escaping from her stall and going on little hikes into the surrounding area. Zel smiled to himself. In a way, the horse reminded him of himself, always searching for something but never really knowing where it was.   
He came to a split rail fence, and instead of going around to the gate Zel climbed over and dropped lightly into the next pasture. He found that he was enjoying the riding lessons more and more, and the fact that he would be riding his very own horse helped to add to that pleasure. He reached into his inner pocket and once again pulled out Amelia's bracelet.   
"Amelia," he murmured to it, "We better find you soon so I can thank you."   
A distant neigh caught Zel's attention, and he looked up to find a solid black horse making its way towards him. With a start, he realized that he was in Safir's pasture, and the curious stallion was making his way towards the new play thing in his domain. Zel looked over Safir with a critical eye that was just now learning how to appreciate the majestic beauty of the horse. Safir had put on about three hundred pounds since returning home, and he no longer looked like he was going to drop down dead at any second. He still looked thin, but his eyes were bright and he held his head up, sniffing the wind to see what was out there.   
As the stallion approached Zel, he reached out and allowed the horse to sniff his hand. Safir made a deep whickering sound, and began to nuzzle up against his hand. Zel furrowed his brow as the horse continued to nuzzle and whuffle his way up to his shoulder, and then down his other hand until he came to the bracelet he was holding. Safir gave an odd whickering sound, and before Zel knew what was happening, grabbed the bracelet in his teeth and ran off, his head held high and his tail flowing behind him like a banner.   
"HEY!" Zel shouted. "That's mine, give it back!"   
The only answer he got was a whinny that he swore sounded like laughter. For an instant he was reminded of Amelia laughing at something that Lina and Gourry had either said or did, but Safir quickly caught his attention again as the horse pranced around him just out of reach, the bracelet dangling from his teeth. Zel could have sworn that the horse was taunting him.   
"Are you going to give that back or not?" Zel asked, taking a step towards the horse. Safir watched him with interest as Zel took another step towards him. Just when it looked like he was going to be able to grab the bracelet, Safir half reared and turned on his heels, taking off for the other end of the pasture. Zel sighed in frustration, and took off after the horse. For fifteen minutes Zel chased the horse, who dodged, whirled, and danced just out of reach, the prize always hanging from his mouth.   
"It's no wonder Amelia chose you," Zel said affectionately as he paused for a breather. "You're both nuts."   
Safir snorted at him and tossed his head in the air as if to say, "See what I care? I have what you want, so there!" Zel watched the horse for a few more seconds, then got an idea. He sidestepped as close as he could get, then suddenly blurred as he used his chimera speed to run past the horse, snagging the bracelet as he did so. He came to a stop and clutched the bracelet close to him as he turned to look at the horse, and then burst into laughter. Safir had the most dumbfounded expression on his face. His eyes were wide, his ears were swiveling around, and his mouth was hanging half open, almost as if he couldn't believe Blue Boy had taken Amelia's possession from him. He then turned his head and gazed at the laughing chimera, then snorted with a toss of his head and ambled off to the shady part of the pasture, his nose held high with a look of utter disgust upon his expressive face.   
After a few more chortles, Zel finally managed to get himself back under control, and he tucked Amelia's bracelet back into his inner pocket. As he watched the horse walk off, he was suddenly sobered by an overwhelming desire to see Amelia's smiling face again. He knew that as soon as Lina and Gourry returned, they would be setting off to find her, but that didn't lessen his worry any.   
"Amelia," he murmured as he turned back towards the palace. "Where are you?" 

************* 

Next episode: Lina and Gourry and Ryo, oh my! Lina's dreams escalated into a massive nightmare, and Gourry comforts her his way. Ryo, on the other hand, is rather tired of Nick's whining, and takes matters into his own hands. Oh, like they weren't already there to begin with. Warning: next chapter will be rather dark in places. Oh yeah, and you probably recognize some of those pictures I described as Amelia having painted. I couldn't help it, it was easier to work with pictures that already exist. 


	12. Chapter 12

Note: This chapter is **DARK**. Don't say I didn't warn you. Also, I'm well aware of the fact that the Slayers guys say that Rowdy and Meliroon aren't married, but damnit, GOURRY LOOKS JUST LIKE THE BOTH OF THEM! *cough* Gomen. I don't own these guys. 

************ 

Zelgadis was the first one to go. Lina still couldn't believe that it had actually happened, but she couldn't deny the reality of the raining sky or the pile of earth that was just waiting to be shoveled into the open grave at their feet. Lina wished it would stop raining. She hated rain on a normal basis, but during a funeral it was just too damn much. The ground was slowly turning into a swampland, and she knew that any minute the grave would start to fill up with water, turning it into a mudhole and making a bad situation worse.   
  
She heard a stifled sob to her right, and turned to look at Amelia, who had one hand over her mouth. Lina saw a drop of blood drip off the edge of her hand, and then another. It was obvious that Amelia was biting her palm as hard as she could to hold her sobs in check. Her blue eyes were swollen, and tears streaked her cheeks in an unending stream. Lina's own cheeks were wet with both rainwater and tears as the priest said the final rights and the grave-diggers began shoveling the dirt into the awaiting hole. 

As the first miniature mound of dirt struck the coffin lid, Amelia let loose with an unearthly wail that caused even Lina's hair to stand up on her forearms. The wailing seemed to go on forever until Amelia collapsed to her knees and began rocking herself back and forth, making a high-pitched crooning noise that was almost worse than the single scream. 

Lina leaned into Gourry, thankful for his strong support as she watched her best friend break down in the mud and dirt. She didn't blame Amelia, after all, it had only been two days ago that Zel, in his own way, finally admitted that he had feelings for the princess. Amelia had been so happy that night, flushed with embarrassment and excitment as she and Zel had set out to take a walk in the woods and "talk". 

Lina's fist clenched. That was the last time anyone had seen him alive. Gourry had already gone up to the room he was sharing with Zel when Amelia came back to the tavern, and she had sat with Lina for a few minutes and talked about how she couldn't wait to get a message to her father. Zel, she explained, had wanted to stay by a small stream and think for a few minutes uninterrupted. 

The next morning, worry began to set in when Zel failed to show up for breakfast. Even though he normally didn't partake in the food wars, he did enjoy his morning cup of coffee. Amelia had been too worried to eat, and once breakfast was over, the three set out to see if they could find him. Gourry had been the first one to see him, and his shout of discovery and alarm brought Lina and Amelia at a run. 

What they saw caused them to come to a halt, then Amelia screeched a denial and ran to Zel's side, casting spell after spell to no avail. The chimera was laying on his back, his eyes open and a look of horror and surprise on his features. There was a very small amount of blood underneath the back of his head, and once Lina got Amelia away from Zel's body, it seemed like she switched into automatic pilot, and she turned him over with Gourry's help to see if she could find out how he was killed. She managed to keep her grief in check long enough to see that there was a place on the back of his head that looked like it had been burned with something, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was. She carefully laid Zel back down the way she had found him, and then let the tears come. 

Lina watched with a grief-stricken heart as more dirt was shoveled into the grave. They had alerted the authorities about Zel's murder, but no clues or ideas had been found or formed, and the friends were left with the heart-wrenching task of finding a coffin and arranging for their friend's burial, not to mention hundreds of unanswered questions. Amelia had completely withdrawn from the group, retreating into numb silence and not saying anything to anyone. Now, her crooning faded into soft sobs as the last of the dirt was put in place, and the few people who had braved the elements to satisfy their curiousity trickled away. Lina moved away from Gourry's warmth and strength, and moved over to Amelia's side. She crouched down and placed her hand on the princess' arm, trying to bring her out of her grief. Lina herself was still struggling with the realization that Zel was dead and never again would she hear one of his sarcastic comments or complaints about having to stop at a place to eat. 

She swallowed hard as she moved her hand up to Amelia's shoulder and used it to pull Amelia into an embrace. The princess' pain tore at Lina's heart, adding to her own pain over what had happened. For a few seconds Amelia cried onto her shoulder, and then with surprising strength she wrenched herself away from Lina and leapt to her feet. Her blue eyes were glazed with shock, and she looked around her as if she didn't realize where she was. Her dazed eyes then looked at Lina, who was slowly getting to her feet, and they suddenly snapped into focus. Amelia's eyes widened, and she began to back away from the sorceress, her hands held in front of her as if to prevent a sudden attack. 

"Amelia, what?" Lina began to ask, only to be cut off by Amelia's frantic voice screaming, "Don't! Don't come any closer to me!" 

"What are you talking about?" Lina snapped, pain and anger making her lash out. 

"Don't come closer! It's not too late for you! Get away from me while you can!" Amelia's hysterical voice cut through the rain like a knife, causing Lina to rock backwards a little in shock, only to bump up   
against Gourry. Gourry reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. 

"Amelia . . . ," Lina began, only to be cut off again as Amelia continued to rant, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. 

"Everyone I've ever cared about has wound up leaving me in one way or another. My mother, Uncle Randy, my sister, Alfred, and now Zelgadis-san! It wasn't his body that was his curse, I was! You need to get away from me, Lina-san, Gourry-san, while you're still able to do it!" Amelia whirled in the mud and ran back to the tavern, leaving Lina and Gourry standing in the rain and staring after her. 

"What was that all about?" Lina asked, struggling to come up with an answer and failing. The agony of the past few days had worn her down mentally, physically and emotionally, and she found that she just couldn't put two and two together anymore. Zel's death had caused the companions world to turn upside down, and nothing made sense anymore. 

"Gourry, what was that all about?" Lina repeated tiredly as they began to move slowly back towards the tavern, leaving behind the pile of mud that covered one of their members. 

"I don't know, but I'm going to talk to her," Gourry replied, his gruff voice betraying his own emotional turmoil. 

"That's fine," Lina replied, too tired to argue and almost too tired to care. Gourry left her sitting at a one of the tables in the tavern, and headed up the stairs towards Amelia's room. Lina felt her head nod   
slightly as the past 48 hours of emotional turmoil and lack of sleep began to catch up with her. She had just started to fall asleep when a thump directly over her head jerked her back to her senses. Lina opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling, slowly realizing that the room she and Amelia shared was directly over her head. Another thump had her on her feet and running for the stairs, because the second thump had sounded suspiciously like a body falling to the ground, and with Zel's killer still on the loose, Lina didn't want to take any chances. 

Once she reached the stairs she cast a Levitation spell and flew up the stairs to the door, thus avoiding all the creaky steps and loose boards. She reached the door to the shared room and rammed her shoulder against it, throwing it off it's hinges inward as she barreled through, only to come to a stunned halt. 

"G-GOURRY?!" she screamed, staring in horror at the blond swordsman as he calmly removed his sword from Amelia's chest and wiped the blood off on her cape. Amelia was sprawled on her back much like Zelgadis had been, her cape spread out underneath her like a pair of angel wings, the winding pool of blood off-setting her dark beauty. Gourry turned to look at Lina as she stood there staring at him, and for the first time since she had ever known him she failed to recognize him. His face was twisted into an expression of hate, and his blue eyes were bright with madness. 

"You weren't supposed to see this," he said in a voice she barely recognized, a flicker of regret making itself known in those alien eyes before it was extinguished. "You were supposed to go tomorrow." 

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH GOURRY?!" Lina screamed. "TELL ME NOW!" 

The stranger chuckled as he calmly took the blade off of his sword and called forth it's true blade of shining energy. "Ahh, Lina, I'm right here," he said mockingly, holding the sword in front of him in an oh-so-familiar way. 

"No, NO! Gourry would NEVER do this!" Lina yelled, and began to ready her powers to attack this thing that had killed her friends. 

"But I have," Gourry said, giving her a twisted smile. "You see, Zel had to be the first to go. He's always looked down on me. Of course, he always looked down on anyone that he considered to be of a lesser intelligence than himself. It was so easy to kill him, too. Just sneak up behind him and slip the Sword of Light into the back of his head. Did you know if you leave the blade in long enough, it's energy causes the wound to burn and close over? That's why there was so little blood." 

"No, I'm not listening to this! FIREBALL!" Lina threw the fire spell at the stranger, then quickly   
followed it with another and then another, until her exhaustion and lack of food caused her power to fizzle   
out as she collasped to her knees, watching as Gourry calmly absorbed the spells with the Sword of Light, turning it's blade from a pure white into a dark, pulsing red. 

"Of course, Amelia had to go after the chimera," Gourry continued. "She's never been one to actively call me an idiot, but I can tell that she looks down upon me, as well." 

"Gourry, why?" Lina asked, trying to rise to her feet but failing utterly as he knees gave out. 

"I'm sick and tired of being treated like an inferior, you flat-chested little bitch!" Gourry suddenly snapped, his blue eyes blazing. "You use and abuse me every chance you get, convinced that because I'm not the smartest man around, you can get away with anything. I've suffered enough beatings and abuse at yours and everyone elses hands, Lina. It's time for it to end." 

Lina's eyes widened as Gourry began walking forward, and she desperately tried to cast a spell, any spell, but found that she couldn't summon the will to call up a lighting spell, much less the Ragna Blade. This was Gourry, the man she loved, how could she even think about turning such a spell against him. 

"GET UP, INVERSE, HE'S THE ONE WHO KILLED ZEL AND AMELIA!" one side screamed, while the other shouted back, "BUT IT'S GOURRY!" 

Gourry had reached her and drew his sword back, gazing at her face impassively. For a brief moment, Lina thought that his features wavered, that his blue eyes became an impossible green color and his hair flickered black, but then it was gone, and she was staring at a face she knew so well, and eyes that were foreign to her. 

"Good-bye, Lina," Gourry said, and plunged downward with his blade. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lina screamed, sitting bolt upright in her bed with her comforter clutched to her chest. Sweat poured down her face as she tried to control her breathing, only to scream again as her door burst open and Gourry came running in. 

"LINA! WHAT HAPPENED?!" he shouted, running to her bedside, only to get a fist in the face as Lina screeched, "GET AWAY FROM ME!" and scrambled madly to get to the other side of the bed. 

"Lina? Lina! What's happened? Is everything all right? What was all that screaming?" 

Lina's feet were on the ground, and she was still fighting with her sheets, not hearing the concerned voices as they tried to get her to calm down. She bagan to chant a spell, only to be snapped back into reality as a hand slapped her across the face, and she fell to her knees holding her cheek. 

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" she screamed, then blinked as the sleep fog cleared her head, and she found Rowdy, Gourry, and Meliroon staring at her, Meliroon rubbing her hand. Lina stared around her, taking in the lack of tavern decorations and bodies on the floor, before raising her eyes to meet Gourry's, and sighed in relief as familar summer-blue eyes filled with concern met her own. It was Gourry, not that . . . . whatever it had been that had been in her dreams. 

"Lina, what happened?" Gourry asked, kneeling down next to her and placing his hand against her stinging cheek. "Grandma, did you have to hit her so hard?" 

"I'm sorry, Lina," Meliroon said as she walked to stand next to Gourry, "but you were about to blow up the house." 

"Th-that's all right," Lina said shakily, allowing Gourry to pull her to him, unmindful for once that they had an audience. "It was just a dream." 

"What kind of dream causes you to scream like that?" Gourry asked. "You scared me, Grandma and Grandpa, and probably half our neighbors as well." 

"It was just a nightmare, Gourry, no cause to get stirred up," Lina said, leaning away from him and putting distance between them. 

"Yeah, but. . . " he began, only to be cut off by her saying, "Will you just drop it?" 

"It looks like things are back to normal, so we'll head back to bed," Rowdy said, cutting off Meliroon's attempted protest, and pulled her out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. 

"Lina, what's going on?" Gourry asked as Lina got back to her feet. 

"Nothing, Gourry. I just had a nightmare and woke up badly," Lina said testily, not wanting to talk about it. 

"Are you sure you woke up at all? My head's still spinning from the punch you threw at me," Gourry said as he walked to the other side of the bed and helped Lina replace the sheets she had torn off in her panic. 

"Sorry about that," Lina said absentmindedly as she crawled back into her bed and laid down, hoping that Gourry would get the hint and leave her along to her thoughts. She suddenly sat up again so fast that she gave herself a mild case of whiplash when she felt the blankets lifted and the other side of the bed dip down as Gourry folded himself in the bed beside her.   
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" 

Gourry calmly reached up, snagged Lina's shoulder and dragged her back down until she lay beside him, then anchored her there with his arm around her waist. While Lina was trying to find a way to get him out of her bed without damaging the house too much, he said, "My mother used to do this whenever I had a nightmare. I found that it always helped me to sleep better afterwards because I felt protected." 

"Gourry, I'm fine," Lina insisted, her face flushed with embarrassment and her body rigid with anger. 

"Relax, Lina, I'm staying. I am your protecter, after all, not to mention we're going to be married   
soon. Besides, Grandpa said we could leave tomorrow to get the Sword of Light, and we need to be rested," Gourry said as he tightened his hold a bit on Lina and kissed her lightly on the top of her head. 

Lina's thoughts and emotions were in utter chaos. On the one hand she liked having Gourry beside her. He was so large and warm, and it was comforting to feel him next to her after her harrowing experience with the nightmare. On the other hand she vowed that she was going to fireball him if he so much as moved a hand in the wrong direction. But, did she really want to fireball him? They were engaged, after all, and maybe he would think it was all right to take some liberties. And did she really want to fireball him if he did try to take a few liberties? Didn't she want to share everything with him? What if he didn't try anything? Would she be insulted or relieved? 

As her thoughts continued to rampage around in circles, she gradually became aware of a new sound in the darkness. With a shock she realized that while she had been debating about what her reaction would be if Gourry tried anything, Gourry had fallen asleep and was snoring lightly. Now Lina couldn't really figure out if she should be insulted that he didn't try anything at all, or be happy that she was engaged to someone who didn't expect anything of her that she wasn't quite ready to give yet. 

She rolled onto her side and pillowed her head on Gourry's chest, laying her ear directly over his heartbeat and feelings his chest rise and fall with his deep, even breathing. She smiled slightly in the darkness when she realized that she really was luckier than most. Life with Gourry would never be dull, but it would always feel right and safe. With that thought, Lina closed her eyes and was lulled back to sleep by the sound of Gourry's heartbeat. She didn't have any more dreams that night. 

********** 

Nick Diolon didn't mind the fact that he was sharing his castle with a Mazoku. Hell, he had invited it, and was looking foward to when they would attack Saillune and the White Magic capital would be underneath his rule. Yet if he were honest with himself, and sometimes he was, he had to admit that the screaming was starting to get to him. Sure, he knew Mazoku needed to eat, and he knew that they survived on the darker, negative emotions of humans. Thus he had to keep Ryo happily fed by providing him with with victims taken from the peasants out on the fields. 

What Nick didn't know was that his own twisted personality and dark, greed filled thoughts were more than enough to sustaining several Mazoku put together. Ryo, however, had a taste for the more exotic darker emotions, such as pure terror and the resignation one feels as they come face-to-face with death. 

Not to mention he liked to experiment with different methods on prolonging the pain and fear for long amounts of time in order to milk out the last drop of essence the human soul had to offer. His current play thing was a young boy no older than five summers who resembled a small splinter pile from all the pieces of wood Ryo had slid into his skin. The child had stopped screaming, and Ryo could tell from the weakening taste of fear in the air that the boy was close to death. He sighed with regret, sorry that his fun was over for now. Of all the humans, he found the children to be the most tasty when they learned that they weren't immortal and were prone to death. Because they hadn't had a chance to really live a full life and make their own choices, not that there would be any choices under Nick's rule, their sudden discovery of death was always punctuated by a sharp spike of terror, that dulled as time passed and they reached, but Ryo loved the taste of that one single spike. It rivaled anything the humans could even come up with in terms of taste. 

With a sigh, Ryo quickly dispatched the now mostly dead child, walking out into the hallway and leaving his body for the palace maids to clean up. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Nick coming down the hallway towards him. Usually the ruler of Diolon avoided Ryo's part of the palace like the plague, but something must have been preying on his narrow mind for the fool to seek him out. Ryo snorted softly in disgust, probably more rants about their lack of movement in regards to Saillune.   
  
"Ryo, when are we going to attack Saillune?! Sources tell me that Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev are no longer in the city proper, surely there are enough low-grade Mazoku to join with my army to warrant an attack now," Nick stated, tension radiating from every pore in his body. 

Ryo eyed the human male with contempt, getting tired of Nick's complaints and whining. They would move on Saillune only when Lina Inverse and her companions were well and truly gone from the city. He knew through other, more reliable sources that Lina Inverse and her blond swordsman were gone temporarily, and would be returning to the city proper soon, though no one could give him an accurate guess as to when the pair would be returning because no one had actually seen Lina and Gourry leave the city proper. Ryo, however, had no doubt in regards to who had helped Lina and Gourry leave the city without being seen. Damn that interfering Guardian Ailanthus, if it hadn't been for her, Ryo would have the Sword and no one could oppose him. 

"Are you even LISTENING TO ME?!" Nick demanded, his face turning a brilliant shade of red as his temper spiked. 

"I am sick of listening to your prattle and complaints," Ryo stated, and before Nick could move Ryo had grabbed him by the neck, Nick's skin starting to smoke from where Ryo touched it. Without any trouble, Ryo dove into Nick's psyche, and began to weave a powerful spell around the Diolon's prince's very soul. When he was finished, he viciously disconnected himself from Nick by flinging him into the wall across from him, before he casually stepped over the unconcious body to look for amusement of some kind. When Nick came to, he would be unable to recall what had happened, nor would he be able to speak or even think without Ryo's manipulating his very being. 

"Should have done that to him sooner," Ryo thought to himself as he stepped out of the castle into the open air. He turned his gaze in the direction of Saillune, and smiled an unpleasant smile. 

"Soon," he whispered. 

--------------------------- 

Next episode: Gourry gets Lina to tell him about her nightmare, and preparations for returning to Rowdy and Meliroon's past are completed. Will the younger Rowdy give Gourry the Sword of Light? And how will Gourry react to seeing his grandparents so young?   



End file.
